Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Mark Joyce, Judd Trump whitewashes Michael White at International Championship

Updated 06/11/2023 at 14:59 GMT

World No.1 Ronnie O'Sullivan dispatched Mark Joyce and progressed into the International Championship third round. A shock looked on the cards when Joyce claimed the opening two frames, but this sparked an impressive comeback from the Rocket, who made three century breaks to secure victory. Meanwhile, Judd Trump impressed as he beat Michael White 6-0.

'Sparkling' O'Sullivan levels against Joyce with century break

Ronnie O’Sullivan powered his way into the third round of the International Championship in Tianjin, China with a 6-3 win over Mark Joyce.

World No. 1 O'Sullivan made three century breaks as he recovered from 2-0 down to advance. His reward is a match against Jak Jones.

Joyce took the first frame with a break of 60 after O'Sullivan made a costly miss on the red.

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He utilised some testing snookers in a safety battle at the end of frame two to double his lead, leaving O'Sullivan with plenty to ponder after a sluggish start.

However, the Rocket responded in emphatic style and motored on towards a superb break of 86 to halve the deficit, following that up with an even better clearance of 110 to wipe out Joyce's lead.

It was O’Sullivan’s 1220th career century and left the world No. 1 in a much better position heading into the mid-session interval.

When the players returned O'Sullivan moved in front for the first time in the match, expertly nudging the final red off the cushion after potting the brown on his way to a stunning clearance of 132.

'What a beautiful cannon!' - O'Sullivan puts brilliant finishing touches on century

It would have been a huge source of frustration for Joyce, who saw his table time limited after not potting a ball since the second frame.

There was simply no stopping O'Sullivan, as the table beautifully opened up for him again and he worked his way to a majestic clearance of 116.

Joyce was finally given some table time and built up a break of 44, until a red rattled the jaws of the bottom pocket.

O'Sullivan could not quite believe it when he missed a black to the opposite side and allowed Joyce back in.

Joyce would eventually prevail after O'Sullivan failed with an attempted double and conceded the frame.

However, O'Sullivan would extend his lead after Joyce left the brown hanging over the top pocket and the world No. 1 claimed a break of 81 to take a 5-3 lead with two reds remaining on the table.

O'Sullivan pots 'raking long red' on his way to frame-winning clearance

The Rocket wrapped up the ninth frame needed for victory as momentum shifted his way after Joyce missed with a long red to seal a 6-3 victory.

Judd Trump booked his place in the third round with a convincing 6-0 whitewash over Michael White.

Trump is aiming to win a fourth consecutive ranking title in a row, and will take some stopping on the evidence of this match.

A break of 79 got him of the mark and he followed that up with a clearance of 73 to double his advantage.

The highlight was undoubtedly a stunning haul of 141, which moved him 4-0 ahead in the second of three consecutive frames where Joyce failed to score a point.

A final clearance of 68 wrapped up the victory for the world No. 3 and he will meet Stephen Maguire in round three.

World champion Luca Brecel was upset earlier in the day by Mark Davis.

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