The World Snooker Championship rolls on with the action at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield heating up as the tournament reaches the quarter-final stage.
A number of top contenders have already fallen, including defending champion Kyren Wilson – pipped by Lei Peifan in the first round – and four-time winner Mark Selby, who was knocked out by training partner Ben Woollaston.
There have been no such problems so far, though, for a returning Ronnie O’Sullivan. The seven-time champion made a mockery of his recent period of inactivity by reeling off three centuries in five frames as he completed a 10-4 win over Ali Carter to reach the second round, and backed it up with a routine win over Pang Junxu to reach a record-extending 23rd quarter-final.
The 49-year-old decided to play at the Crucible despite admitting he was “scared to go near a snooker table” during his break from the game and feared he had lost his bottle. The first-round clash had the potential to be a grudge match, with O’Sullivan calling Carter “not a nice person” and a “f****** nightmare” following a heated Masters match last year but it was ultimately played in a good spirit.
The World Snooker Championship got underway on Saturday 19 April with the final played over two days starting on Sunday 4 May.
Results so far
Second round
Ronnie O’Sullivan 13-4 Pang Junxu
Luca Brecel 13-4 Ding Junhui
Si Jiahui 13-10 Ben Woollaston
Shaun Murphy 10-13 Judd Trump
Chris Wakelin 13-6 Mark Allen
Hossein Vafaei 10-13 Mark Williams
John Higgins 13-12 Xiao Guodong
Lei Peifan 10-13 Zhao Xintong
First round
Kyren Wilson (1) 9-10 Lei Peifan
Xiao Guodong (14) 10-4 Matthew Selt
Mark Williams (6) 10-8 Wu Yize
Neil Robertson (9) 8-10 Chris Wakelin
Barry Hawkins (11) 9-10 Hossein Vafaei
Jak Jones (16) 4-10 Zhao Xintong
Mark Allen (8) 10-6 Fan Zhengyi
John Higgins (3) 10-7 Joe O’Connor
Ding Junhui (10) 10-7 Zak Surety
Shaun Murphy (15) 10-4 Daniel Wells
Ronnie O’Sullivan (5) 10-4 Ali Carter
Judd Trump (2) 10-4 Zhou Yuelong
Luca Brecel (7) 10-7 Ryan Day
Mark Selby (4) 8-10 Ben Woollaston
World Snooker Championship draw and schedule in full
(All times BST)
Tuesday 29 April
Quarter-finals
10:00
Zhao Xintong 6-2 Chris Wakelin
John Higgins 5-3 Mark Williams
14:30
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-2 Si Jiahui
Luca Brecel 3-5 Judd Trump
19:00
Zhao Xintong 12-4 Chris Wakelin
John Higgins 8-8 Mark Williams
Wednesday 30 April
Quarter-finals
10:00
John Higgins 8-8 Mark Williams – to a finish
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-2 Si Jiahui
14:30
Zhao Xintong 12-4 Chris Wakelin – to a finish
Luca Brecel 3-5 Judd Trump
19:00
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Si Jiahui – to a finish
Luca Brecel v Judd Trump – to a finish
Thursday 1 May
Semi-finals
Friday 2 May
Semi-finals
Saturday 3 May
Semi-finals
Sunday 4 May
Final
Monday 5 May
Final