RONNIE’S ON THE CHARGE WITH 147

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN finished with a brilliant 147 break last night as he stormed into the Coral UK Championship quarter-finals with a 6-0 demolition of Matthew Selt. O’Sullivan’s maximum at the end of the fourth-round clash in York was the 13th of the Englishman’s career — improving his own all-time record. The 38-year-old (below), who had a scare when the final blue wobbled in the jaws of the middle pocket before dropping, is set to earn £44,000 for the break — the first of the tournament. ‘I was pumped up and the adrenaline was flowing,’ said O’Sullivan. ‘I was shaking like a leaf out there. The blue just about went in and I was shaking on the pink but I hit it well. I celebrated before the black because I thought I can’t really miss that, but then I remembered Ken Doherty missing one. I didn’t want to make myself look stupid.’ Earlier, Marco Fu and Shaun Murphy served up more drama before the Hong Kong potter sealed his place in the last eight with a 6-5 win. Murphy beat Fu 10-9 in the 2008 final and the pair went the distance again, with the clash decided on the final black. ‘I’m not happy with the way I played but this is the biggest win of my career,’ said world No 10 Fu. ‘I’ve won against top players when I’m playing well but today I didn’t feel capable of making a 20 break.’ Murphy had built a 5-3 lead but Fu battled back to level and took his chance in the final frame after the Englishman snookered himself on the yellow. Judd Trump took his place in the last eight by beating Rod Lawler 6-3.