STEVE DAVIS sent out a warning to those who will meet Ronnie O’Sullivan at the williamhill.com UK Snooker Championship – claiming the Rocket is cueing the best he has for years.

The Nugget was on the end of a 6-1 demolition at the Barbican as O’Sullivan cruised through to face either Judd Trump or Dominic Dale in the last 16 tomorrow. Davis, who reached the UK final at York in 2005, also reckons the shortened tournament format – games are over best-of-11 frames until the semi-finals – is in the three times world champion’s favour.

“I thought Ronnie was cueing as well as I have ever seen him,” Davis said. “He is hitting the ball beautifully. I told him at the end – he doesn’t seem to agree.

“But, watching him play, I thought he was striking it well and, really, I wasn’t good enough in the end.

“I had a couple of chances but, if you make a mistake against Ronnie, and John Higgins and the likes of the top players, they are magnified.

“While you don’t do a lot wrong, you have to be more perfect against those players. I made a few sloppy safety shots and he overpowered me in the end.”

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O’Sullivan had to win to ensure he kept his place in the top 16 of the rankings but it was Davis who rolled back the years in the opening frame – a ruthless 54 reminding a packed house of his glory days of the 1980s.

The 54-year-old had chances in the second and third as well but failed to take advantage and, as he began to make elementary mistakes, O’Sullivan settled into a new gear.

The Rocket took a 3-1 lead into the interval after smacking in a 123 break in the fourth frame and a brilliant exhibition of potting in the fifth brought 97 and an extended lead.

The pressure told on Davis – a shocking miss on a pink in the sixth frame summing up his predicament – and O’Sullivan was a perfect mix of attack and defence, pinning in Davis with accurate safety play before capitalising on the inevitable errors.

“You need a bit of a following wind against the top players,” Davis added. “You need them to not perform as well as they can. When they do, then you are really up against it. I think best-of-11 suits him. He’s a great pressure player, he gets going quickly. If he cues like that, he is going to be tough to beat.”

O’Sullivan said: “I’m pleased to be through. I made a few decent breaks and managed to nick a couple of frames. I’m pleased to be competing and playing in a nice tournament.”

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• New sensation Judd Trump and twice world champion Mark Williams are in action today and World Snooker have announced a half-price ticket offer for fans.

Phone the box office on 0844 854 2757 or visit the Barbican and quote the code ‘Ace 147’ for the afternoon session (12.30pm) when Trump is in action, or ‘Williams 147’ for the evening session (7pm).

Both codes also apply for all-day tickets, so you can see a session for £7.50 or all day for £12.50.