O’Sullivan puts in a shift to beat factory worker

RONNIE O’Sullivan revealed he was suffering from a virus after brushing aside factory worker Luke Simmonds to book his place in the second round of the UK Snooker Championships in York.

Despite losing the first frame to his unranked 38-year-old opponent, O’Sullivan appeared to show few ill effects as he rattled in back-to-back centuries for a 6-1 win, which sets up a Sunday clash with Dublin potter Ken Doherty.

But afterwards O’Sullivan said he felt “absolutely awful” and at one stage became concerned he might have to curtail his quest to become the first player to win the title seven times.

“At one point I wondered if I was going to get through it,” said O’Sullivan.

“I couldn’t focus on the balls — I just had to grind it out really and wait and see what happened.

“It felt like one of the hardest matches I’ve ever had to play. Every time I was on a shot I felt like I was going to feather the white because I couldn’t focus.

“Every shot felt like a black ball in a world final.”

O’Sullivan heaped praise on Simmonds, who has a job building carbon fibre body parts for cars, and who evidently does not fit his definition of one of the “numpties” whom he has frequently derided.

“Luke is better than most people on the tour,” insisted O’Sullivan. “I can’t believe he’s a factory worker and he doesn’t play much.”

O’Sullivan added: “Until this tournament goes down to the last 16 and two tables, the atmosphere is not the best. So you will probably see a lot of surprise results.”