RONNIE O'Sullivan was at the centre of attention on day three of the Welsh Open, and the defending champion admitted that he was delighted to be back in Newport.

The Newport Centre is staging the tournament for the first time in six years and O'Sullivan told the Argus that he had nothing but good things to say about the City.

He explained: "I really like Newport it's great, I am enjoying myself, I like it here.

"In fact I really like Wales, the crowd here are fantastic, the people are nice and I have played just up the road at Riley's snooker club before, so it is nice to be back here."

O'Sullivan, who beat Ian McCulloch 5-2, attracted plenty of attention by wearing a towel on his head when not at the table and he also controversially revealed after his match that he is considering pulling out of tournaments scheduled for Malta and China in February.

He said: "I can't see the value in travelling all that way for the possibility of winning £30,000 or maybe losing my first match.

"These tournaments are being put on willy nilly around the world with no thought for the players, it is silly.

"Is it really worth spending 17 hours on a plane for that? 99% of other players might stand for it but there's a good chance I won't."

Elsewhere John Higgins, the 2000 Welsh Open champion, produced a solid display as he defeated Welshman Dominic Dale 5-2 in round two.

Higgins was also full of praise for the Newport crowd, telling the Argus: "They are appreciative snooker lovers here so it is a great place to play, I have good and bad memories here and hope to do well this year."

Steve Davis, who beat Higgins 9-3 in the 1995 Welsh Open final, was beaten 5-2 by Bridgend's Ryan Day, a player 23 years his junior.

Day had beaten Davis 5-4 from 4-0 down in the same event five years ago and made highest breaks of 94, 69 and 81 to cause another upset.

Paul Hunter, the number four seed who next month will defend his Masters title at Wembley, became the highest ranked player to hit the road home after a 5-3 defeat by Londoner Barry Hawkins.

Following his 5-4 win over UK champion Stephen Maguire, Stephen Hendry must get the better of another fellow Scot to make further progress.

Hendry's third round opponent will be Graeme Dott, who pulled away from 2-2 to beat controversial Aussie Quinten Hann 5-2.