Rocket says records ‘overrated’ as he sets fastest Crucible time

FIVE-TIME champion Ronnie O’Sullivan was in imperious form at the World Snooker Championship when he beat first-round opponent Thepchaiya Un-Nooh of Thailand 10-1 in 108 minutes to set the record for the fastest match in Crucible history yesterday.

O’Sullivan (right), who led 8-1 at the close of play on Sunday, stayed true to his nickname ‘The Rocket’ when he won the two frames needed in less than 30 minutes to become the first man to win a match in under two hours.

The record was previously held by England’s Shaun Murphy who blanked China’s Luo Honghao 10-0 in the first round last year in 149 minutes, but O’Sullivan smashed the record by 41 minutes, after which he brushed aside his achievement.

“I’m not really bothered by records, I stopped bothering about records when I reached them and they didn’t really give you that buzz for very long,” O’Sullivan (44) said after the match where he had two century breaks.

“They’re nice when you’re chasing them but once you get them they’re overrated in many ways. So I think you just take each game as it comes and it’s just nice to be out there playing some snooker.”

The Englishman will play Ding Junhui of China in the second round.

Meanwhile, Jordan Brown trails Mark Selby 5-4 overnight as the Antrim man makes his Crucible debut. Elsewhere, Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham built a 6-3 overnight lead against 10th seed and former champion Shaun Murphy after winning the final two frames of yesterday’s afternoon session.

Judd Trump will face Yan Bingtao in the second round after the Chinese 16th seed withstood a stirring comeback from qualifier Elliot Slessor to win 10-7 yesterday.