Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-0 Ding Junhui
Mark Selby 6-0 Steve Davis

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RONNIE O’Sullivan turned in a superb performance to whitewash Ding Junhui and pick up his first win of the PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker at Malvern Theatres in Great Malvern.

The World No.1 had taken just one point from his first two games with a draw against John Higgins and a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Joe Perry.

Ding was desperate to pick up points as well with an identical record to O’Sullivan’s, but he was simply blown away by The Rocket, who earned £8,000 thanks to two tremendous century breaks.

"Not too bad for a night’s work, it’s nearly what I got for a whole week in China," said O’Sullivan, referring to his runners-up performance in the Shanghai Masters.

"Ding had a few chances and could’ve nicked the first frame but I’m happy with how I played."

In the other match at Great Malvern, Mark Selby stamped his authority on the competition with a 6-0 victory over Steve Davis.

Selby went into the game top of the league with two wins out of two but watched Ronnie O’Sullivan light up the evening with a sublime whitewash of Ding Junhui.

The Jester from Leicester was not to be undone though and repeated the trick against the six-time World Champion Davis, who was somewhat out of sorts despite a solid showing in the Shanghai Masters.

“Apart from the second frame where I should’ve got a century and the last frame they were pretty scrappy,” said Selby. “But I played well enough to get some decent scores and take them from Steve.”

Two whitewashes in one night for the crowd in Great Malvern – but Selby was focussed on the win rather than trying to emulate the Rocket. “It didn’t cross my mind to be honest,” said Selby, who picked up £7,000 on the night with his final frame ton. “To beat a player like Steve is a great achievement whatever the score and as I said last week, I really believe I can win it.”

Thursday, October 9, 2008
PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker
Malvern Theatres, Great Malvern
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6–0 Ding Junhui
63-56 (O'Sullivan 43, Ding 44), 134-0 (O'Sullivan 134), 66-1 (O'Sullivan 65), 70-31 (O'Sullivan 53, Ding 31), 71-30 (O'Sullivan 71), 126-0 (O'Sullivan 126)

Mark Selby 6–0 Steve Davis
68-36 (Selby 48), 95-3 (Selby 95), 66–43 (Davis 43), 113-7 (Selby 33, 80), 73-49 (Selby 47), 101-0 (Selby 101)

Premier League Snooker build-up
THE fourth week of the PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker sees the action move to the Malvern Theatre in Great Malvern, Worcestershire with three of the four players in action desperate to kick-start their campaigns.

Mark Selby tops the table with two wins from two matches and takes on Steve Davis, who lost his opening match 4-2 against Joe Perry two weeks ago in Derby.

The big clash of the night though sees world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan take on Ding Junhui – both players picking up just one point from their two games so far.

Ronnie comes into his meeting with Ding having lost 10-8 to qualifier Ricky Walden in the Shanghai Masters in China at the weekend – denying him a record breaking third title in a row.

A live betting blog appeared on www.matchroombets.com with tips on all the action.

FOR more information about the Premier League Snooker, visit the official website www.premierleaguesnooker.com

TO find out about broadcasting the Premier League Snooker, contact Karen Manzi, Matchroom Sport's Head of Television Sales, on +44 1869 340940.

Date posted: October 9, 2008

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