Ronnie O'Sullivan said he was "just trying to pace myself and not putting too much emphasis on winning this" after beating Steve Davis, to whom he has not lost for 11 years, 5-2 to reach the last 16 of the Welsh Open at Newport.

"It's hard to get motivated here with this kind of prize money. If you could cherry-pick, there's probably about four or five tournaments you really want to win: the World Championship, the Masters, the UK, the Premier League and the Grand Prix.

"I haven't played much since [winning] the Masters [last month]. I've had a couple of games with my cousin and three exhibitions."

Davis made breaks of 132 and 62 in recovering from 0-2 to 2-2 but never subsequently threatened as O'Sullivan, assisted by runs of 63 and 118, went through to play Marco Fu, a 5-4 winner over Fergal O'Brien, for a place in the quarter-finals.