RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has reiterated his love for the city of York – describing it as one of his “favourite places on Earth.”

O’Sullivan booked his place in the second round of the UK Snooker Championship after a 6-3 victory over Michael White at the York Barbican.

The six-time world champion has won four of his record seven UK titles in York and, after not being able to play at the Barbican last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, O’Sullivan expressed his delight at returning this year.

“I love York, York’s a fantastic place,” hailed O’Sullivan. “What wouldn’t you like about York? It’s amazing. The running routes are a bit too flat for me, I like a few hills.

“It’s not great for the running but it’s great for a lot of other stuff.”

He added after his convincing win over White, which featured successive 139 and 131 breaks: “The crowd got their money’s worth which is good.

“They deserve it because they’re a good crowd and they’ve supported this tournament very well.

“They didn’t have this tournament last year. We were in Milton Keynes last time and that was good to snooker.

“The crowd have come in this week and supported the tournament really well.

“Big up to York. This is one of my favourite places on Earth.”

While effusive in his praise of York, O’Sullivan was less complimentary of his own game and performance.

“I don’t really like talking about my matches because I just get really down and sad about it,” he said. “I’d rather just leave it out there.

“It was what it was. If it was good, great. If it was terrible then I’m sorry to have put everyone through that.

“It was just something to do, for me. I’ve had a nice Wednesday out.

“Otherwise, I’d have been sitting at home watching Netflix, watching a bit of sport. I actually prefer watching snooker now to playing it.

“But I’ve been round the block so I know how to apply myself.”