Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Jackson Page

World Snooker Championship results: Ronnie O'Sullivan aims to 'break rules' and win trophies in his 50s

By Chris Hammer

Snooker

Thu April 25, 2024 · 8M ago

Ronnie O'Sullivan quest for a record-breaking eighth World Championship title got off to a flying start with a 10-1 victory over Jackson Page - and afterwards admitted he wants to lift more trophies into his 50s.

The Rocket, who is also bidding to win all three Triple Crown titles in a single season for the first time in his legendary 32-year career, headed into the second session of his first-round encounter holding an emphatic 8-1 lead over the Welsh youngster and therefore was never at risk of falling at this hurdle for just the fifth time.

During the first session on Wednesday, O'Sullivan fired in four half-centuries plus a break of 122 although his 22-year-old opponent, who is widely tipped for a bright future, did avoid a rare Crucible whitewash thanks to a superb break of 142 in the seventh frame.

O'Sullivan wasted little time in getting the job done will also be overwhelming favourite to defeat his next opponent Ryan Day when the pair collide on Sunday/Monday and advance to a 22nd quarter-final in his 32nd consecutive appearance.

An extremely bullish Rocket, who has won five tournaments this season and also reached the Tour Championship final recently, told the BBC: "‘I’ve just started working with Nic Barrow, my coach who knows my game inside out. I’ve decided I can’t really coach myself anymore, but I’ve felt pretty much as good the last couple of weeks on the practice table as I have the last six or seven years.

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Ronnie O'Sullivan is chasing an eighth world title and a 24th Triple Crown

"I don’t lie when I say I’m not playing well, I know a lot of people think I am but I’m not a liar, I think most people know what by now.

"I say what I feel and I don’t care if I leave myself vulnerable. I have the confidence to back it up, I know the ability is there. It’s just about finding the right formula. That’s what I’m always trying to do. Just keep going.

"I’ve already broke the rules for snooker. I’m still going at 48. I’m just seeing what’s possible now. What is possible in this game? How long can you keep going for? Can I win a World Championship at 50? Who knows? I’m probably the only player that’s able to do that so let’s see, let’s have an experiment.

"To do what I’ve done in this season in your whole career, over a 30 year career, to win what I’ve won this season, you’d have had a great career. I’ve been doing that for 30 years.

"I’ve had the greatest career of any other snooker player. How many people can say they’ve been the best or most successful at their job ever? I have to pat myself on the back because I don’t, I’m always pretty hard on myself. But the reality is no one’s achieved what I’ve achieved on the table statistically. I’m not a statistics guy, but I know you people are so you like to hear numbers. For me I just want to enjoy it. Keep playing. But what’s possible? I don’t know.

"If I’d had my head straight for 30 years I could have won 10 or 12 world titles, who knows. But it’s great to find out, let’s see what can happen."

Day had dominated the closing stages of his first round match against 15th seed Barry Hawkins on Wednesday evening by taking the last five frames to win 10-8.

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Higgins marches on

Four-time John Higgins chiselled out a 10-6 win over Jamie Jones to book his place in the second round for the 26th time in his career.

Resuming with a slender 5-4 advantage, Higgins won the first two frames to assume control, but began to feel tension after a missed pink in the next enabled Jones to reduce the deficit.

Even at 9-6, Higgins looked far from convincing and another missed pink hauled the Welshman back into the contest before the veteran Scot ultimately limped over the line.

Higgins, who will face Mark Allen in the last 16, said: “I began to miss a few and thought, ‘oh no, don’t do this again’. Obviously you don’t want it going 9-7 or 9-8.

“Who knows where I’ll be in a few months’ time, but my only focus was getting through that first round game and having a crack at Mark Allen.”

Trump in control

Third seed Judd Trump will take a commanding 6-2 lead into Friday’s second session of his second round match against Tom Ford.

Trump punished Ford for missing a routine red when he was 63 points up in the fifth frame, and on the verge of establishing a 3-2 lead.

Instead the former champion hit back to snatch the frame, and subsequent breaks of 52 and 69 set him up to also win the last frame of the session and move four clear in the race for a place in the quarter-finals.

David Gilbert, who beat defending champion Luca Brecel in the opening round, built a 5-3 lead against Robert Milkins in the opening session of their last-16 clash, which resumes to a finish on Friday.