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Ronnie O'Sullivan warned by referee over hand gesture as he builds 12-4 over Matthew Stevens

Ronnie O'Sullivan in action against Craig Steadman
Image: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Within sight of quarter-final against Stuart Bingham

Ronnie O'Sullivan moved to within a frame of the World Championship quarter-finals on Sunday, but not without a moment of controversy.

The five-time champion will resume against Matthew Stevens on Monday with a 12-4 lead after two centuries helped him take seven of the eight frames played in the second session.

But the Rocket, who avoided a fine for briefly playing without shoes during his first-round match, was given a warning by referee Olivier Marteel for making a rude hand gesture at himself late in the session.

A tournament spokesman later confirmed any repeat could lead to a docked frame, but O'Sullivan has plenty to spare against former runner-up Stevens.

Resuming with a 5-3 lead, he stretched that to 7-4 before knocking in back-to-back breaks of 110 and 139 to open a five-frame advantage.

And the final three frames of the session were rattled off with little fuss, leaving O'Sullivan within sight of a last-eight meeting with Stuart Bingham.

Sunday afternoon proved almost as fruitful for another former champion, Neil Robertson, who extended his lead over Ali Carter to 11-5.

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At one stage the Australian led 11-3 with two frames still to play, but Carter avoided the embarrassment of defeat inside two sessions by taking both of them.

Shaun Murphy, who beat Stevens in the 2005 world final, was quickly into his stride against Joe Perry, going 7-1 up at one stage in the all-English contest before closing out the second session 12-4 in front, needing just one more to book his ticket to the last eight. Judd Trump is also in a commanding position having established a 10-6 lead over an out-of-sorts Marco Fu.

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