RONNIE O'SULLIVAN revealed he had packed his bags ready for a quick Crucible exit before firing a brilliant 147 maximum break in the 888.com World Championship in Sheffield.

O'Sullivan punched the air in delight after completing the stunning clearance to seal a 13-7 victory over Mark Williams and book his place in the quarter-finals against China's Liang Wenbo, who held his nerve to win 13-12 against Northern Ireland's Joe Swail.

It was only the seventh maximum at the venue - O'Sullivan has now made three of them and a record nine in competition - and earned the 32-year-old a bonus of £147,000 as well as £10,000 for the highest break of the tournament.

"It feels great," said O'Sullivan. "A 147 always feels great and to do one in Sheffield is fantastic. Once the first red went in I made my mind up I wanted to do something.

"To be honest I'd packed my bags. I thought if I get beat here I don't really want to go back and start looking for pants and socks under the settee so I packed my bags and they'll stay packed until the end now. That was the frame of mind I was in."

Glasgow's Stephen Maguire also secured his place in the last eight with a 13-7 victory over Australia's Neil Robertson.

Maguire - who will now face Joe Perry after he beat Stuart Bingham 13-9 - had been installed as tournament favourite before O'Sullivan's performance but insisted the two-time champion was always the man to beat.

"The bookmakers sometimes don't know what they're talking about," the 27-year-old said.

"There are eight players left and they all know who the favourite is."

TENNIS: Andy Murray takes on Croatia's Mario Ancic today for the third time this season in the second round of the Open Sabadell Atlantico Barcelona. The pair have one win apiece.