SHEFFIELD, England, April 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ronnie O'Sullivan is in to 6/1 with the sponsors for the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship after racing 7-2 clear of Dominic Dale in their first-round match.

The three-time former champion looked in fine form at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre and needs three more frames to complete victory when the match resumes on Tuesday afternoon.

Betfred spokesman Jon Wilde said: "We have taken on 'The Rocket' this year and laid him to lose thousands following his poor season, but he looked really up for the task against Dale.

"Punters also saw he was in good nick and have kept piling their cash on Ronnie, so we had to quickly take the scissors to the 8/1 we were quoting before the match."

Barry Hawkins is 66/1 from 100/1 after a dramatic 10-9 victory over sixth seed Stephen Maguire, while Stephen Hendry triumphed by the same score against Joe Perry and remains a 40/1 chance.

Ding Junhui was Monday's other winner, 10-2 over Jamie Burnett, and is the 13/2 fifth favourite to lift the trophy on May 2.

Betfred.com have also launched a special microsite for the World Championship and for exclusive interviews and videos click on http://www.betfred.com/snooker

Betfred.com World Snooker Championship odds

Outright: 5/1 John Higgins, 11/2 Mark Selby, 6/1 Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan (from 8/1), 13/2 Ding Junhui, 12/1 Shaun Murphy, Judd Trump (from 14/1), 14/1 Ali Carter, 22/1 (from 25/1) Mark Allen, 28/1 Graeme Dott, 40/1 Jamie Cope, Stephen Hendry, 50/1 bar (e/w 1/2 1,2).

    In-play matches:
    1/100 Ronnie O'Sullivan, 25/1 Dominic Dale (O'Sullivan leads 7-2)
    8/13 Stuart Bingham, 6/5 Peter Ebdon (Bingham leads 5-4)
    ***Odds subject to fluctuation***

SOURCE Betfred.com