O'Sullivan off to flying start in Preston

At the venue where he won his first world ranking title 21 years ago, O'Sullivan was in complete control against Donaldson as he compiled top breaks of 109 and 73 to seal his progress into the second round.

O'Sullivan, who beat Stephen Hendry in the final of the UK Championship at the Guildhall as a fresh-faced 17-year-old in 1993, will now play Yu Delu in the last 16.

"I got off to a good start and I think that maybe put a little pressure on Scott," O'Sullivan said. "I feel a little bit rusty, but each match I played in the Masters and the Welsh I got more into it, so I'd rather be underplayed than overplayed.

"I still feel like I'm a little way off sharpness but as long as I can win my first match and my second match then it should click in, I'll gather momentum and get sharper as the tournament goes on."

Yu saw off Liang Wenbo 4-2 to book his place in the next round.

Mark Selby joined some other big names on the scrapheap after being thrashed 4-0 by DavidGilbert.

A day previously Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui and Stuart Bingham had all been dumped out of the tournament, and Selby swiftly followed them through the exit door after a sub-standard showing.

"It's a great result for me although I was lucky tonight because Mark was struggling," said Gilbert. "For the last few months I have been playing dreadful but hopefully this will give me a bit of confidence.

On the second day of action in Preston, there were also victories for Barry Hawkins, Mark Allen, JoePerry and Ryan Day.

David Gilbert [22] 4-0 Mark Selby [2]

Joe Perry [14] 4-3 Mark Davis [28]

Barry Hawkins [30] 4-0 Stephen Maguire [16]

Ronnie O'Sullivan [3] 4-0 Scott Donaldson [25]

Mark Allen [1] 4-2 Jamie Jones [19]

Ryan Day [24] 4-3 Stuart Bingham [8]

Yu Delu [31] 4-2 Liang Wenbo [10]