BEIJING - The "Rocket" Ronnie O'Sullivan cruised into the quarter-finals of the China Open snooker tournament after beating Ali Carter 4-2 here on Thusday.

Ronnie O'Sullivan competes during his match against Ali Carter at the China Open March 29, 2007. O'Sullivan edged Carter 5-4. [Xinhua]

O'Sullivan won the last three frames against his practice partner for a 5-4 success to set up a quarter-final tie with Hong Kong's Marco Fu.

The world number three is a two-time China Open winner and is delighted to still have a chance of making it three after a narrow escape.

"I've not slept for 24 hours, so maybe I was a bit loose. But the more chances I missed, the more confident I got," said O'Sullivan.

"It was hard out there, it was a difficult match, but I had good support from the crowd which is nice," added the "rocket".

Carter was disappointed not to take a place in the last eight after failing to convert several match winning chances.

"I was lucky, I expected Ali to win with the chances he had. He should have put me away," admitted O'Sullivan, who is still suffering from jet-lag.

Fu came from 2-0 down to beat Matthew Stevens 5-3, thanks to runs of 62, 57 and 63.

Fu is the final Asian interest and will have an army of fans when he takes on "The Rocket".

Jimmy White was competing in the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time in 18 months but his run ended there as he went down 5-1 to John Higgins.

The Scot continued his return to form by knocking in 76, 81, 52 and 43.

Jimmy White now faces his countryman Graeme Dott who saw off Neil Robertson 5-1.

Barry Hawkins set a quarter-final tie with Ken Doherty after eliminating Joe Swail 5-0, while Jamie Cope will take on Shaun Murphy, who beat Stephen Maguire 5-2.