Ronnie O'Sullivan on day one of the World Championship

World Championship snooker latest: Ronnie O'Sullivan in action on day one at the Crucible

By Sporting Life

Snooker

Sat April 15, 2023 · 2y ago

Ronnie O’Sullivan overcame an impressive revival by Chinese qualifier Pang Junxu to win 10-7 on day one of the World Championship at the Crucible.

The seven-time champion looked set for the convincing victory he craved on the opening day after reeling off the first five frames of their best-of-19 match, but Pang fought back to end that session 6-3 and continued to show fight and promise during the evening.

In the end it was too late and having clawed to within two frames at 9-7, his attacking approach at last came unstuck as a risky long red allowed O'Sullivan to step in and finally close out the match with a break of 81.

Predicting the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible

The 47-year-old O’Sullivan had insisted during the build-up that his chances of going clear of Stephen Hendry on eight modern-day titles would depend on his ability to negotiate the early stages of the tournament with the minimum of effort.

He looked set to face a tough challenge from Pang, who reached the final of the inaugural WST Classic last month and had also beaten O’Sullivan in their only previous meeting in last year’s low-key Championship League.

A nerveless 50 break in the opener seemed to under-score Pang’s potential but O’Sullivan clawed back to take it and in the process appeared to knock some of the wind out of his 23-year-old opponent.

A simple missed black from Pang set O’Sullivan up to extend his lead with a swiftly-taken 42, and subsequent breaks of 61 and 53 left Pang still to get his first Crucible frame on the board at the mid-session interval.

O’Sullivan looked close to his clinical best when they returned, overturning Pang’s 56-point advantage to move 5-0 ahead, before Pang’s excellent century reduced the deficit.

Pang missed a number of chances in a lengthy seventh frame that O’Sullivan clinched on the colours, but looked thoroughly impressive as he dispatched the final two frames to raise hopes of at least making Saturday’s evening session a competitive one.

Unfortunately for Pang, something of a repeat played out as O'Sullivan took the first two frames to pull five clear, before his young rival gradually went about reducing the deficit.

At 9-7, he was within two frames for the first time since before 11am in the morning, but that's as close as he got as an under-the-weather O'Sullivan edged through.

'It turns me on... I get off on it'

"I'm relieved it's over," said O'Sullivan. "I've got a bug, I've been hanging all day. Everything's gone, just hanging in there. It's a horrible feeling.

"I just thought I've got to give it a go and see if I can get through. Maybe hang around the Crucible and give everyone my bug!

"I'm so tired I just feel so relaxed, it's mad. I can't wait to get to get back to my bed."

Asked what he made of his young opponent, O'Sullivan said: "I rate him. He's going to be around a long time. He's very, very good."

Next for O'Sullivan will be one-time protege Ding Junhui or Iranian qualifier Hossen Vafaei, and he was keen to remind Eurosport viewers that Vafaei had labelled him 'not good for the game' and suggested he retire from it last year.

"Don't rattle my cage!" laughed O'Sullivan. "I love it when they call me out, I love it when they give me stick. I just love it. It turns me on, I get off on it. I need something to fire me up, I can have a reason to perform.

"They've probably realised it's not a good tactic, but we'll see. We'll have some fun."

On Saturday morning, champion Stuart Bingham reeled off five frames in a row to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 6-3 lead over David Gilbert, in a match that is set to resume on Sunday.

The afternoon session saw Neil Robertson begin his bid for a second world title by taking a 6-3 lead over Wu Yize.

Robertson's 138 break in frame two helped him towards a 4-1 lead before Wu produced back-to-back breaks of 107 to keep his head above water.

Pegged back to 4-3, Robertson took the final two frames to swat aside hints of a comeback.

Like Robertson, Luca Brecel pulled away from Ricky Walden as their first session came to a close to lead 6-3, while Ali Carter finds himself trailing Jak Jones 5-4.

Daily Crucible schedule

World Snooker Championship: Daily schedule & results

(*) denotes final session of a match
Match number refers to where it lies in the tournament bracket

SATURDAY APRIL 15
Morning Session (10am)
First Round (Best of 19 frames)
TV Coverage: Eurosport & BBC

Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 Pang Junxu
Stuart Bingham 6-3 Dave Gilbert

Afternoon Session (2.30pm)
First Round (Best of 19 frames)
TV Coverage: Eurosport & BBC

Luca Brecel 6-3 Ricky Walden
Neil Robertson 6-3 Wu Yize

Evening Session (7pm)
First Round (Best of 19 frames)
TV Coverage: Eurosport & BBC

Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-7 Pang Junxu *
Ali Carter 4-5 Jak Jones

SUNDAY APRIL 16
Morning Session (10am)
First Round (Best of 19 frames)
TV Coverage: Eurosport & BBC

Ding Junhui vs Hossein Vafaei
Stuart Bingham vs Dave Gilbert *