Ronnie O’Sullivan up for ‘nice and easy’ Neil Robertson challenge at Players Championship

Ronnie O’Sullivan has joked that he has a ‘nice and easy’ match with Neil Robertson next up as the pair prepare for a blockbuster Players Championship quarter-final.

The Rocket was in superb form as he beat Judd Trump in the first round in Wolverhampton, knocking in breaks of 127, 99, 90, 83, 62 and 52 to beat the Ace 6-3.

This set up a clash with the Australian, who returned from suffering with Covid to beat Kyren Wilson 6-4, making breaks of 114, 100, 94 and 60 along the way.

O’Sullivan was clearly delighted with how he played against Trump, having struggled to beat him in recent times, but knows it doesn’t get any easier with the Masters champion next on Thursday night.

‘I’m just pleased to get through,’ O’Sullivan said after beating Trump. ‘This is a good tournament to play in and you don’t want to be out in the first round of these tournaments. I’m happy to be in the event and I’ve got a nice and easy match with Neil Robertson in the next round now, so can’t wait!

‘There were still a few mistakes in there. I suppose that just happens when you get older, you have lapses in concentration that don’t happen when you are younger. I try to make up for it with other areas of my game and that kind of offsets those lapses that tend to happen.

‘It was a good atmosphere and a packed audience. They came out expecting some good stuff so we tried to put on a good match for them.’

O’Sullivan also hailed Robertson’s technique as among the sport’s best, while saying that he had to keep changing his own to keep up with his rivals.

‘I am always tinkering. They should change my name from the Rocket to the Tinkerer,’ said O’Sullivan. ‘I can’t help it, I just have to.

‘It’s not like I’m changing my cue action, I’m just fiddling about with it.

‘I