Snooker: On-song O'Sullivan ruins Day's night

A tale of two cue tips ended in success for Ronnie O'Sullivan as he enjoyed a night to remember against Ryan Day in the second round of the World Championship at The Crucible in Sheffield last night.

O'Sullivan had to raise his game to book a quarter-final against Mark Williams after being in danger of exiting the tournament when 9-7 down. But in last night's final session, when both players had trouble with their tip, O'Sullivan turned on the style to win five consecutive frames before eventually advancing 13-10.

It could have been different if his Welsh opponent had not miscued when on the brink of a 10-8 lead. In trying to pot the pink, Day lifted the white over the object ball and into a pocket, allowing O'Sullivan to make a 24 break that brought the scores level.

Day's only joy was when on the brink of defeat, pinching frame 22 to trail 12-10, but his tip let him down again as another miscue on the black in the next let in O'Sullivan to wrap it up.

"Ryan is a very good player and it could have gone either way," O'Sullivan said. "Maybe I'm a bit lucky to have gone through."

Earlier, Ken Doherty produced a clinical display to reel off five consecutive frames and secure a 13-8 victory over Matthew Stevens. The 36-year-old will face Hong Kong's Marco Fu in the quarter-finals today. Graeme Dott, runner-up two years ago, kept alive his hopes of reaching another final with a 13-9 win against Nigel Bond and will now take on Australia's Neil Robertson.

Peter Ebdon wrapped up a quarter-final place with a session to spare. Ebdon, winner of the title in 2002, took every frame of the second session to complete a 13-2 victory over David Gray and will meet the defending champion, Shaun Murphy, in the last eight.