Ronnie O'Sullivan blitzes Graeme Dott, Neil Robertson sees off Luca Brecel

Updated 20/03/2018 at 21:35 GMT

Ronnie O'Sullivan was in sensational form as he thrashed Graeme Dott 6-1 in the first round of the Players Championship, with Neil Robertson beating Luca Brecel 6-2.

Ronnie O'Sullivan

Image credit: Getty Images

O’Sullivan, who has already won four rankings events this season, edged a tense opening frame in which both players made errors, with Dott living up to his pre-match promise to not watch his opponent on the table.

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A fantastic long red got O’Sullivan in during the second and he made no mistake, casually potting balls as he rolled in his first century of the tournament, with Dott casting his glance everywhere but the table.

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A half-century break saw O’Sullivan open up a 3-0 lead despite another decent effort from Dott during the frame.

In the fourth and fifth frames O’Sullivan was in ruthless form as he punished every error from Dott and didn’t leave much when he had to play a safety.

Dott then capitalised on a mistake from O’Sullivan on the black to get on the board in the sixth

And The Rocket pounced on a missed red to win the seventh and complete and comfortable victory.

He will face Ding Junhui in the quarter-finals.

In the other evening match Neil Robertson progressed to the next round by beating Luca Brecel 6-2.

Roberston opened the match with the first frame before Brecel rolled in an impressive break of 130, following that up by taking the third frame to lead.

However Robertson responded perfectly with three consecutive breaks of 50 or more followed up by a ton to move 5-2 ahead.

And a second century in a row gave Robertson victory, setting up a quarter-final clash with the winner of the match between Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire.