Ronnie turns the table in a blink

Coming into tonight's Premier League match, this really was billed as a must-win match for The Rocket.

With three draws so far, O'Sullivan was bottom of the table. For a man who has reigned supreme in this competition in recent years, his situation was shocking by his own impeccable standards.

And in his way tonight was a rejuvenated Mark Williams who sat top of the table, brimming with confidence after a terrific start to the season.

Ronnie on the other hand has dipped in and out of form so far but when it mattered, O'Sullivan responded in his usual stylish fashion. He brushed Williams away 4-2 tonight and now it looks a whole lot rosier. He's climbed off the foot of the table and is the only unbeaten man left in the series. It just shows what a huge difference one match can make in this tightly-contested Premier League format.

What impresses most though is not only did Ronnie get the job done, there was a swagger about it too.

This stylish win had the O'Sullivan stamp all over it and against arguably the best player on tour so far this season. He's teed himself up perfectly for Saturday's Power Snooker competition, and is finely poised in the Premier League for when he meets Neil Robertson in Grimsby in a fortnight's time.

So panic over, and he made it look so easy.

In the night's other match, Ding Junhui couldn't bounce back from last week's humiliation.

After losing 6-0 at the hands of world number Robertson in Oxfordshire, he was handed another thumping as he went down 5-1 to Hong Kong's Marco Fu.

What makes these two results more shocking is that just earlier this month Ding won a PTC event and looked in fine nick when he beat Mark Selby 4-2 at Brentwood. He's gone from a player who was showing all the qualities of winning major honours this season, to one who now looks like he can't arrest his slide.

Too many more games like this and even his firmest followers may begin to doubt him.

But as for Fu, he finished bottom of the Premier League last season with just two points to his name. This year, he's already accumulated six and tops the charts. So fair play son!