Can Ronnie go all the way?

Ronnie O'Sulllivan has a real chance of winning a fourth world title.

They were the words being whispered around the Crucible today as he completed his safe passage into last the 16 of a so far unpredictable World Championship.

Picture by Monique Limbos

On a day when Stephen Lee joined Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen as seeded players to fall as first round vicitms, Graeme Dott looks set to follow and Ding Junhui and Mark Selby are also up against it.

But the Rocket has so far emerged as one of the few title contenders to breeze through his opening match without any war wounds.

His 10-4 victory was as routine as the scoreline suggests and has seen optimism from his legion of fans crank up already.

So, can Ronnie build on this and go all the way?

Of course he can. O'Sullivan has had a decent season with maintaining his place among the top 16 an achievement in itself. And he's also added three ranking trophies to his collection.

He's started winning again and, so far in this tournament, looks to be in good spirits.

The Rocket appeared level-headed and ready for anything Ebdon was going to throw at him.

That said, Peter actually threw very little at him. He will face far sterner tests along the way and his frailties could yet be exposed.

Ebdon made life very easy for O'Sullivan. He failed to deliver the kind of challenge the build-up to this match promised. Instead, he passed Ronnie chance after chance and it was only a matter of time until he took them.

O'Sullivan played well enough but will have to get even better with the likes of Neil Robertson still likely to make up his journey to a fourth world title.

While many of the game's top stars are falling in the first round, O'Sullivan's route to the final still looks tough. He's probably not got any better of a chance of winning the title than he did when he arrived in Sheffield but he could benefit from going quietly about his business.

He said in his press conference today that he just wants to take one match at a time and this is exactly the right attitude.

It's so far so good for Ronnie. He's made an excellent start and still has some gears left to glide through but it's too early to get excited yet.