UK Snooker Championship 2021: Ronnie O'Sullivan reaches last 16

Ronnie O'Sullivan won the last of his seven UK titles in 2018

Record seven-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan cruised past Mark King 6-3 to reach the last-16 of the UK Championship in York.

King battled back to trail 4-3 with a high break of 77, only for O'Sullivan to add runs of 63 and 53 to progress.

He will face former world champion Stuart Bingham or Thailand's Noppon Saengkham in the next round.

Since winning the World Championship last year, O'Sullivan has had a disappointing 15 months by his own high standards, reaching just one semi-final this season on the back of losing five ranking finals last term.

And, although the 46-year-old, opened with a century break and compiled five further breaks of 50 or more, he remained patient and was made to work for his opportunities.

O'Sullivan told BBC Two: "I am pleased to be through, Mark is a tough player so I just had to focus. I am trying, I have been playing exhibition snooker since the World Championship and that is not good enough for the nitty gritty.

"I haven't got long now and this is one last effort to see how it goes. I am trying to take one ball at at a time. The result is irrelevant, I just want to apply myself.

"I never look at the draw, I have no interest in it. I don't care who I play, but do I enjoy everything I do. I have fathomed a way that works for me. I enjoy how I have life at the moment."

Asked about the big names that have exited early from the tournament, O'Sullivan replied: "I have a little chuckle to myself when I see them all getting bombed out. Lovely, beautiful."

Analysis

1991 world champion John Parrott on BBC Two:

"There has never been anyone better finishing games off, it is not an easy thing to have in your armoury. You can get embroiled in battles, but O'Sullivan gets the chance and finishes it off."

1997 world champion Ken Doherty:

"O'Sullivan looks very good, stroking the ball in nicely, some good breaks and great long pots. He matched King in the safety department and was very patient.

"His concentration looked good, it can waver when you are looking at other matches, but he finished the match off. He never baulks at the winning line, he gets over it very easily."

• 'We said we'd never talk about it': How a night out in Glasgow ended in heroics and then trauma for one man
• Which players never got the credit they deserved? MOTD Top 10 debate the Premier League's unsung heroes