Snooker: Explosive Rocket thrashes Cope in double-quick time

(GETTY IMAGES)

The world No 1 Ronnie O'Sullivan raced into the last eight of the Welsh Open with a crushing 5-0 second-round victory over Jamie Cope yesterday.

The Rocket needed just 55 minutes to see off the challenge of the error-prone Cope, who had chances in the match but failed to capitalise on a couple of solid breaks.

Cope, ranked 18 in the world, reached this stage of the tournament courtesy of a great win over Ding Junhui, but the Stoke man had no answer to the peerless play of O'Sullivan, who mercilessly punished his opponent's shortcomings.