Ronnie O’Sullivan admits he still doesn’t feel like himself after once more playing through the pain of a broken ankle to progress at the UK Snooker Championship.

O’Sullivan, hunting his fifth UK crown to go with his five World Championship titles, moved into the third round at the expense of Peter Lines, winning 6-3.

After his first-round victory over amateur Daniel Wells, O’Sullivan threatened to pull out due to his ankle – broken while out jogging on the eve of the tournament.

And despite another win, the 38-year-old revealed he is still playing through the discomfort, sporting casual shoes and an ankle support at the table.

“I have got my foot broken so I am thinking maybe this is a good time to lose but your instinct kicks in and you battle on,” he said.

“I feel like a baby that is trying to learn to walk again because the muscles around it are not confident and I am not sure that the foot is going to do what I want it to do.

“I am not getting any rhythm or any tempo, and you know I am a busy player and I feel like I am very un-busy so I don’t have my natural flow.

“Thanks to Sheffield United who have been putting me through some stuff I would not have dreamed of doing on my own.

“Walking is like riding a bike. You do it unconsciously but at the moment I am walking very consciously, so they are just trying to get me out of that.

“I thought in the second frame ‘forget about your ankle because if you make it worse and break it again you have always got six weeks until the Masters’.

“But you know I really want to do well here and I played so well in the Champion of Champions, it is bad timing for me but all I can do is hang in there and fight.”

And next up is Ben Woollaston, a player O’Sullivan met – and conceded he should perhaps have lost to – at the International Championship last month.

He added: “Ben is a good player; he should have beat me in China where he was 4-1 up.

“He pots very well and he will probably be favourite for that match considering my health but I will not give up, I will fight and I am pleased to still be in the tournament.”

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