Fu sweeps Morgan

Hong Kong ace Marco Fu Ka-chun kick-started his bid for a quick return to the world's top 16 by moving into the second round of the British Open - the first ranking tournament of the season.

World number 17 Fu put the frustrations of last season behind him by routing Brian Morgan 5-0, knowing full well that he has lost the privilege of being a direct entrant to most of the tournaments this season after dropping out of the top 16 following his first-round exit at the World Championships in April.

His confidence was first buoyed last week when he reached the semi-finals of the Regal Masters - a non-ranking tournament - beating top players Ken Doherty and Peter Ebdon in the process before losing to world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan.

'The Regal Masters gave me a lot of confidence. Beating two players in the top eight gave me a boost and it was useful match practice. I lost to a lot of players much lower on the ranking list than me last season,' said Fu, who failed to advance beyond the second round last season.

The 23-year-old turned on a clinical performance with breaks of 125 and 87 in the final two frames, preventing the 33-ranked Morgan from even potting a ball. Fu will face number 14 Graeme Dott for a place in the last 16.

He said: 'I expected it to be a closer match because Brian is a good safety player but I managed to steal a couple of frames early on and scored heavily at the end.' Fu now hopes to rekindle the dazzling form that helped him reach the Grand Prix final as a rookie in 1998.