Ronnie beat Jack Lisowski comprehensively yesterday in their last 16 match at Alexandra Palace. Ronnie admitted feeling very nervous at the start of the match, but found his form from frame 3 on.

Here are the scores

Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones was in the crowd and the players walk-on was quite something

Here is the report by WST:

O’Sullivan Gets Satisfaction From Round One Romp

Jumpin’ Jack Lisowski was gone in a flash as Ronnie O’Sullivan stormed to a 6-1 win in the first round of the Cazoo Masters, with his friend from the Rolling Stones looking on.

Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, pictured with wife Sally, is a lifelong snooker fan

Legendary guitarist Ronnie Wood was just a few feet from the table on the VIP sofas at Alexandra Palace as O’Sullivan eased into the quarter-finals. On Thursday afternoon he will face Neil Robertson, a repeat of last month’s Cazoo World Grand Prix final when O’Sullivan came from 7-5 down to win 10-8, giving him his first title in 16 months

The Rocket has won the Masters a record seven times and always has the raucous support of the London fans behind him, and while You Can’t Always Get What You Want, his supporters will already be dreaming of their man lifting the trophy for an eighth time next Sunday night.

Lisowski has now played in the Masters three times and won just four frames, having struggled to show off his talent in one of snooker’s biggest arenas. He had chances early in today’s match to put pressure on his opponent, but didn’t take them and the contest slipped away.

The Gloucestershire cueman had an opportunity chance to take the opener but missed a red to a top corner at 24-25 and O’Sullivan won the frame in two more scoring visits. A superb run of 104 gave Lisowski the second frame, then in the third he led 25-22 when he missed a thin cut on the green to a baulk corner. That proved a turning point as O’Sullivan made 86 to lead 2-1. Lisowski failed to score a point in the next two frames as breaks of 63 and 127 from O’Sullivan made it 4-1.

In the sixth, O’Sullivan missed a difficult red to a top corner on a break of 64, and Lisowski was on target for an excellent clearance until he over-cut the last red to a centre pocket on 38. A tremendous long pot on the red to a baulk corner set O’Sullivan up for 5-2, and six minutes later the match was over as he finished in style with a 125.

Chigwell’s 46-year-old O’Sullivan is into the quarter-finals of this event for the 23rd time.

“All of the players have had a great reception here,” said world number three O’Sullivan. “The London snooker fans have supported every player and every match. It feels like my home event when I get the trophy – but not when I get pumped! I don’t read much into performances, I don’t look back on them. I’m through to the next round and let’s see what happens in my next match.”

Lisowski said: “Missing the green in the third frame was a big moment, after that Ronnie relaxed and played really well. I kept fighting and should have made it 4-2. I wasn’t overawed by the occasion, I felt fine and it’s a good learning experience for me, the crowd was fantastic. But playing Ronnie here is tough, it’s like playing Roger Federer at Wimbledon.”

And the one with analysis by the BBC:

Masters 2022: Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby progress to quarter-finals

11 January 2022
By Shamoon Hafez BBC Sport

Record seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan outclassed Jack Lisowski 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the Masters at Alexandra Palace.

O’Sullivan was presented with opportunities by Lisowski and made breaks of 86 and 63 to lead 3-1.

A superb 127 clearance was followed up by 64 to go one from victory, which he took with another fine 125 break.

‘This is the Ashes’

O’Sullivan’s record at the invitational Masters event is unmatched, claiming the most titles, reaching the most finals (13) and winning the most matches (57).

Roared on by a boisterous crowd at his home event in London, O’Sullivan looked sharp by compiling two centuries and three further breaks of 60 or more.

‘The Rocket’ will meet Australia’s Neil Robertson on Thursday in a repeat of last month’s World Grand Prix final, in which the Englishman collected his 38th ranking title triumph.

“The way he hits the ball, Neil is a superb cueist,” said O’Sullivan on BBC Two. “He is a phenomenal scorer. This is the Ashes, here we go. It is coming back to Britain.

“I am always nervous before any match. Some tournaments bring out the dark side in me, it was tough but I am tough and the snooker gods say calm down and play some snooker.

“It is hard to carry 2,000 Londoners – when you are from here – supporting you. The pressure was on and I felt I had to deliver, if I didn’t I would have felt bad. The fans have supported me and I have to give something back.”

Lisowski added: “Playing Ronnie out there is like playing Roger Federer at Wimbledon, it is going to be extremely tough to win.

“Once the top guys relax you are really on the back foot, I messed up in the third frame and that was my chance.”

Analysis – ‘He is saying he is the boss’

Six-time world champion Steve Davis on BBC Two:

“Ronnie was very proud of his performance, he didn’t look nervous but you are a bit when you come out. He quickly got into this stride.

“I like his attitude in the interview, he is going ‘I am alright at this game and enjoying it’. That is a dangerous animal.”

1997 world champion Ken Doherty:

“Absolutely majestic finish from Ronnie O’Sullivan, he is an absolute genius. He wasn’t at his imperious best but still won comfortably against a top-16 player. He will be tough to beat in this tournament.

“He was different in his outlook before Christmas and his attitude is completely different, he is saying he is the boss and you have never heard that from Ronnie. He is usually self-deprecating.”

Here are a few videos, shared by WST and Eurosport on their YouTube Channels:

The walk-on

The 127 after the MSI

The last frame of the match:

The WST post-match

and the Eurosport post-match:

After the match, Ronnie reflected on what Jack Lisowski may need to do to do his talent justice ( as reported by Phil Haigh):

…

O’Sullivan thinks there are trophies to come for Jackpot, but he could do with trying to take on the mental talents of former world champion Dott to improve his chances.

‘I don’t want to be critical of Jack because he’s such a good guy, such a good lad,’ Ronnie said on the BBC.

‘A lot of people look at cue actions and stuff that looks pretty on the eye, but there’s an inner part as well that sometimes people don’t go on about, which is steel, determination.

‘You look at players like Graeme Dott who would be the first to admit, probably, that he hasn’t got half the talent that Jack’s got but he’s been to three World finals, won one, massive winner. Sometimes you need to have it all to be a great player.’

O’Sullivan rates Lisowski highly, but did warn him that he and the rest of the Class of ’92 are clearly going nowhere any time soon, with John Higgins and Mark Williams also into the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace.

‘Jack’s a fantastic player and his time will come, he’s only young,’ said Ronnie. ‘But if me and John and Mark carry on, maybe their time won’t come! Maybe they’ll have to wait for another generation.’

…

It won’t get any easier of course tomorrow, with Neil Robertson awaiting but Ronnie played well towards the end and hopefully will feel more settled with the first round match under his belt. The memories of his recent win over Neil at the World Grand Prix, and the manner of it, might help him. Neil however will want to avenge that defeat and will be 200% up for it.