Ronnie edges through

The two-time World Champion was 7-8 down in the race to nine, but fought back from 56 points behind to force a decider which he won with a break of 108.

"The table wasn't the worst I've played on but it was somewhere near there," O'Sullivan said afterwards.

"I told Ricky after the match that only a cushion had cost him the match, and that if he keeps playing like that it won't be long before he's challenging for titles."

O'Sullivan will meet Stephen Maguire, who also edged through a final-frame showdown with Joe Swail.

There were, however, two second-round shocks on Thursday.

Neil Robertson, who won the Grand Prix last month, was surprisingly beaten 9-4 by Finland's Robin Hull.

The 32-year-old world number 47 won five straight frames in the evening session to knock out Australian Robertson, who had moved up to seventh in the provisional rankings after winning his first-ever ranking event in Aberdeen.

And 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy, down 6-2 to Alan McManus at the interval, could not find away back in the evening session as the Scot eased to a 9-3 win.

Meanwhile, former world number one Mark Williams beat Gerard Greene 9-7, while veteran Steve Davis, who reached the final last year, enjoyed a comfortable 9-5 success over Jamie Burnett.