Ronnie O’Sullivan put a stop to James Cahill ‘fairytale run’ in the Scottish Open with a 4-0 mauling. The Englishman must have been left scratching his head at the thought of playing O’Sullivan just before the game, and it was definitely for the right reasons.

The Rocket started on the front foot, and with only five minutes of play gone, the veteran was already 1-0 up. His 23-year-old opponent was gutted. However, he will have only himself to blame as he missed two long pots, gifting Ronnie the chance to go ahead. The Rocket didn’t fail to take advantage of the error, reeling a break of 95 to take the frame in ominous style.

Ronnie surely had no time to waste at the table. In fact, he spent only an average of 8 minutes and one second per frame. Perhaps, the veteran had some reservations somewhere nice and was in a hurry to meet up with a date.

In an incredible 32 minutes spell, the 46-year-old completed a whitewash win over the world number 118. Ronnie reeled off breaks of 93, 111 and 86 to complete a 4-0 win over the Englishman.

As common as whitewash wins are becoming, none in recent history would be completed as soon as Ronnie’s.

Elsewhere, Shawn Murphy wasted no time in dispatching Mark Davis. It was a rather one-sided affair with Murphy pushing Davis out the event with breaks of 65, 60, 55 and 89.

Ding Junhui wasn’t left out of the party either, completing a 4-0 whitewash over Mei Xi Wen to set up a meet with Graeme Dott. The UK Championship winner was helped by breaks of 132 and 100 along the way.

Interestingly, Ding Junhui and Trump might locks horns in the quarter-finals should he win his next tie. It would be a thrilling encounter many fans of the sport would be dying to watch. An expected exhilarating encounter between an in-form Ding Junhui who just won the UK Championship for the third time in his career and against world number one, Judd Trump.

But for now, all Ding Junhui would care about is defeating Graeme Dott who he is poised to take on in the next round.

Written by: Roland Arum