Ronnie O’Sullivan reveals illness as he avoids minor scare to see off Pang Junxu at World Snooker Championship

An ill Ronnie O’Sullivan avoided a minor scare to beat Pang Junxu 10-7 and reach the second round of the World Championship. O’Sullivan was far from his best with numerous errors throughout the day but still managed to resist a late comeback from Pang to get over the line and revealed he has been carrying a «bug» so was relieved to win. Ad The Rocket, who is looking to break Stephen Hendry’s record of seven Crucible titles, will play Ding Junhui or Hossein Vafaei in the last 16 on Friday.

World Championship‘Don’t rattle my cage’ – O’Sullivan warns rivals he ‘loves it’ when he’s criticised26 MINUTES AGO “I’m relieved it’s over," said O'Sullivan in the Eurosport studio. «I’ve got a bug so I’ve been absolutely hanging all day – legs, limbs, everything has gone – just hanging in there. “I was so desperate just to get over the line.

It’s a horrible feeling. I just wanted to see if I can get through, have a few days rest but I might just hang around the Crucible and give everyone my bug! “I was so tired that I feel relaxed. It’s mad.

I just can’t wait to get to my bed. I’m struggling.” Most of the frames followed the same pattern of O’Sullivan making a mistake, before Pang struggled to make an impact, then the defending champion found a way to steal the frame. Having led 5-0, Pang made a mini fight-back at the end of the first session to trail 6-3 going into the evening.

However, O’Sullivan made a break of 82 and won a key safety battle in the 11th frame to take an 8-3 lead. It looked like he was going to win without a mid-session interval, until he missed a mid-distance red to the bottom-right pocket in the next frame. With one red left on the table, and just five points behind his opponent, Pang went for what appeared to be