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Ronnie O’Sullivan has made a quick start against Pang Junxu - Getty Images/George Wood
Ronnie O’Sullivan was in control against Pang Junxu as the seven-time winner finished the first session of their World Championship last-16 match with a 6-2 lead.
O’Sullivan claimed each of the first four frames, posting breaks of 58, 91, 50 and 63, before China’s world number 27 Pang got off the mark by registering the contest’s first century break, making a 119.
The ‘Rocket’ swiftly hit back to secure frame six and after Pang took frame seven, O’Sullivan concluded the session by re-establishing a four-frame advantage to take into Sunday’s resumption.
Three-time champion Mark Williams advanced to the quarter-finals as he saw off Hossein Vafaei 13-10.
After going from 9-7 up at the start of the session to 11-8 ahead, Williams saw Vafaei take the next two frames to get within one of level pegging before the Welshman wrapped things up, finishing with a break of 115.
Williams’ last-eight opponent will be the winner of the marathon clash between John Higgins and Xiao Guodong, which could not be decided inside three sessions.
Facing a race against time to complete the match before the afternoon action commenced, four-time Crucible champion Higgins won two frames in a row after the mid-session interval but was frustrated by Xiao with the winning post in sight, as the Chinese star battled back to make it 12-11 just over four hours after the session began.
The pair will return to finish on Saturday evening, playing on the first available table following the scheduled matches.
There had been nothing to separate them after each of the first two sessions, which finished at 4-4 and 8-8 respectively.
And the third session followed the same pattern as no player led by more than one frame until after the interval on Saturday, with Higgins bouncing back from losing the opener by taking the next two before Xiao levelled things up at 10-10 by winning a mammoth frame that lasted more than an hour.
Scotland’s Higgins came out firing after the interval, making a break of 84 to take the 21st frame - his 2,000th at the Crucible.
With time running out in the session, Higgins managed to take the next frame despite missing a fairly straightforward pink at 65-0 up to open the door for Xiao, who was unable to amass the points he needed to overturn his deficit.
Requiring just one more frame to win the match at 1.40pm, the 49-year-old appeared on course for victory but let Xiao back in and was punished.
Zhao Xintong leads Chinese compatriot Lei Peifan 10-6 after winning the morning session 5-3.
05:36 PM BST
O’Sullivan 6 Pang 2
The seven-times champions clears up the final red and the colours up to the blue to take a commanding 6-2 lead into tomorrow afternoon’s second session.
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O’Sullivan takes a convincing overnight lead - Danny Lawson/PA Wire
05:30 PM BST
O’Sullivan goes in off the yellow
When 36 ahead at 63-27 with one red left. That leaves Pang needing to go red and black/pink/blue and get one snooker.
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Pang fights back - Danny Lawson/PA Wire
05:28 PM BST
Ronnie misses a long red with the rest
And at 39-16 leaves Pang a red to cut into the left centre pocket. He pots it and uses the cushions to get on the pink to the left middle, screwing back to separate the two resd by the right cushion... and then misses a routine pot into the bottom right. D’oh!
O’Sullivan pots the red, a black, a red along the cushion, another black and there are three reds left, two by the left cushion, one open, which he pots and then the pink but it doesn’t leave him on the alst two reds, cutting off his brea at 23.
O’Sullivan 62-23 Pang
05:22 PM BST
Pang lets O’Sullivan back in
Ronnie makes a long pot with a cut into the bottom right but his cue ball on this slick table screws back much further than he hoped leaving him a tricky cut on the yellow to the green pocket. He takes it on and leaves it stranded in the jaws, one more roll and it would have dropped. And this time the cueball is perfectly positioned for the bunched reds. And all seems lost until Pang misses a doozy, a goober, a dolly at 16-5 up.
05:12 PM BST
O’Sullivan 5 Pang 2
Pang sinks the long pot to the yellow cushion, gets back on the pink then clears the colours to take his second frame of the afternoon 77-59.
What a test of nerve and he passed it convincingly in that frame.
05:10 PM BST
Pang shows his grit
Pang recovers when given an opportunity to build a break of 34 to move with 16 points with one red left hardish against the cushion and he has to play a safety shot, putting the red behind the black. O’Sullivan escapes but leaves a long pot on to the yellow cushion with his lead 59-43.
05:03 PM BST
Pang errs
Pang goes red, black, red but his cueball rests against the black after potting that second red. Touching ball. He fails to declare which colour when asked by the referee and is penalised when hitting the pink.
05:00 PM BST
Ronnie opens the door
Taking his first opportunity the Rocket races to 52 and opens the reds, having pulled off a great long pot to the yellow pocket. But then misses a routine red to the bottom right. Frame on for Pang.
O’Sullivan 52 Pang 0
04:52 PM BST
O’Sullivan 5 Pang 1
Green, brown and pink are next to each other on a semi-circle by the top right cushion but Pang fails to nestle the cueball in behind them. Ronnie carries on patiently until given the chance to push the last red behind the brown and green.
And Pang hits the brown then concedes the frame.
04:49 PM BST
Pang turns the tables snookering Ronnie
But he too escapes with swerve, leaving Pang needing two snookers. Cat and mouse ensues as Ronnie turns Houdini.
04:46 PM BST
Pang snookered
And hits the pink. Then O’Sullivan snookers him again, putting the red behind the pink in baulk and the cue ball behind the black.
Pang masters the angles off two cushions to escape it, though.
O’Sullivan 74-33 Pang
04:45 PM BST
Ronnie builds a frame-deciding break
Now an error from O’Sullivan lets Pang get to the table and he begins to build a useful break of 33 until he overcuts a red and it jiggles in the jaws of the bottom left.
Enter O’Sullivan who doesn’t take that red on but sinks another from the pack into the bottom right, followed by a black then that red on the bottom left and he’s on his way.
After six reds and blacks, he uses the blue to take on the reds closer to the centre to keep going to 68, with one red left, between centre and top right close to the cushion. That takes him to 35 ahead with 35 left and he goes for the snooker on the remaining red.
04:31 PM BST
O’Sullivan 4 Pang 1
That leaves a long plant on for O’Sullivan but he cannot complete it leaving a long red to the bottom right on for Pang which he nails. He follows a pink which breaks up the bunch of reds and the table and balls are all there for him now if he can grasp the nettle.
Nope, he gets to 21 and loses control of the white again.
“It’s always the easy things that get you,” Shaun Murphy says, reminding us of Hendry’s words.
But then Pang confounds the sceptics with a long, long red with enough side to leave him on the black. And he makes it to 30 before going too straight on the blue to leave a red easily available.
Pang pots the blue and now needs the rest for the red into the bottom right and makes that too. He’s on a roll, using the blue shrewdly but never quite in an ideal position even when the break reaches 47.
He gets in among the cluster of reds and starts to clean up extending the break to 63 and leaving Ronnie now needing snookers which elicits around of applause.
And in his best moments of the match, Pang keeps potting, a long straight red at the root of it all, racking up a break of 119.
Pang shows he can do it on this formidable stage and against the most formidable of opponents.
04:18 PM BST
Pang cedes control
After making the opening pot, followed by a black, Pang loses control of the cueball when sinking that black and ruins another opportunity.
Pang 8 O’Sullivan 0.
04:13 PM BST
Interval thoughts
Stephen Hendry says Pang is making too many unforced errors and is consequently being outclassed. Steve Davis says he is such a good prospect that maybe in a leisure centre or one of the lesser venues on the circuit he may have a chance if Ronnie had an off day but ‘the Crucible finds you out’. It’s mangling his judgment and he’s taking on the wrong options too many times. Hendry thinks this best of 25 will not make the third scheduled session, predicting more of a cakewalk for O’Sullivan.
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Pang is struggling - George Wood/Getty Images
03:58 PM BST
O’Sullivan 4 Pang 0
O’Sullivan RSVPs with brutal efficiency to make a break of 63 in 180 seconds to win the frame 76-6.
03:56 PM BST
Pang’s misjudgments mount
After a good long pot, Pang mucks up by going for the brown rather than the green and ends up potting it but with no red on after the cueball hits the green afterwards. But he then flukes a red with his safety effort but misses on the green to the centre left.
O’Sullivan 13-6 Pang.
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Long rest - Danny Lawson/PA Wire
03:52 PM BST
Lightning baize
It’s a quick table and causing a few positional errors. Ronnie keeps picking at fluff from the cushions and when the cue ball overruns a red by the black, his opening break ends after three reds and a break of 13.
03:46 PM BST
O’Sullivan 3 Pang 0
The two trade safety shots for right visits, Pang’s not as precise as Ronnie’s but still leaving nothing easy on as he receives a fortunate rub of the green when the cueball canons into the red but leaves the pink inbetween the white and the red.
And then Pang, in escaping a snooker, pots the cueball, allowing Ronnie the chance to roll the reds into the bottom two pockets interspersed with pinks and then clears up the colours for a break of 41 to win the third frame 95-34.
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03:40 PM BST
Pang makes 34
Pang swerves around the pink, clips the cushion and kisses the red into bottom left. The cueball ends up very close to the brown, though but he manages to cut in the yellow although the cueball isn’t kindly positioned after cannoning into the blue.
Doesn’t matter, though, as he starts to find his range and rolls in two good long red pots to extend the break to 27 with four reds left.
The remaining reds are up towards the baulk colours and to the sides so he uses the green judiciously but then misses a hard cut on the penultimate red into the top left. His break is 35 but he hasn’t left one of the remaining two reds on.
03:33 PM BST
O’Sullivan makes 50
Another misjudgment from Pang over which red to go for, eschewing the one into to the top left which would have required a rest, he goes for a difficult one into the bottom left that opens the table for Ronnie who promptly goes:
Red, blue, red, black, red, black, red, black then fires in a long red to the bottom right after his attempt to break the pack of reds didn’t fall favourably.
A couple of reds and blues into the middle pockets take the break to 42. But it ends at 50 when he can’t cut a loose red into the bottom left.
Leave a long, swerving pot into the bottom left on.
03:25 PM BST
O’Sullivan 2 Pang 0
Ronnie needs no second invitation and rattles off a break of 91, ending with bluem pink and black left, to take the frame at ease. gift-wrapped by his opponent.
Dennis Taylor points out that he trusts his new cue when in among the balls but not yet for longer pots. having banjoed his old faithful cue, grooved over the years as an extension to his cueing arm, whichever one he decides to use, after defeat in January.
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03:19 PM BST
O’Sullivan 1 Pang 0
Duelling safety shots leave all balls on the table after 10 visits until O’Sullivan’s shot from baulk clips a red too thick and leaves reds on to the middle and bottom right for Pang.
He starts with one to the middle, followed by a pink to the same pocket. Bringing the black into play with plenty of left-hand side when potting a second red he opens the possibility of a substantial break, using the baulk colours. Red to centre left, followed by yellow, then red to middle right allows him to pot the pink into the bottom left.
But then his judgment betrays him as he doesn’t screw back for an easy red but sets himself up for a plant with the rest that he misses. Big error and his break stalls at 25.
03:10 PM BST
Pang’s mistakes
Pang had three chances to take the opening frame and blew them all and O’Sullivan’s break of 58 proved decisive.
Ronnie breaks off the second frame left-handed.
03:08 PM BST
O’Sullivan takes first frame
Pang can’t cut the brown in, leaving it on for Ronnie and O’Sullivan duly pots it then misses a long blue. He’s 26 ahead with 18 on the table.
Pang tries to play for the two snookers he needs. O’Sullivan plays patiently, not potting but not making any mistakes either for three visits, leaving the blue over the top left and Pang knocks it in followed by the cue ball. And that’s that.
O’Sullivan leads Pang 1-0.
03:04 PM BST
Pang cedes the table after missing a difficult red
The old magic returns for a wonderful pot of a red into the top right and the white rolls into the brown to give him perfect position to set up a run of reds and blacks.
He sets himself up off a black to roll the last red into the middle right and extend his break to 46 then nails the last black, followed by the yellow but messes up positionally when sinking the green to go too close to the brown.
He tries to cut it into the top right but it stays out and rattles out of the jaws but the cue ball is safe along the bottom cushion.
O’Sullivan 66-44 Pang
02:59 PM BST
Ronnie on the scoreboard
Fairly immaculate safety hard up against the baulk cushion by O’Sullivan after a red and black. There is one difficult, long red on for Pang and he goes for it into the bottom right but he misses by a fairly large margin and it cannons into the white but hasn’t left much on.
And Ronnie takes the one on to the right and misses:
Pang 44-8 O’Sullivan.
02:56 PM BST
Pang extends lead
Ronnie takes on a red to the top right, a long pot and he’s a couple of centimetres off, leaving the table, with the reds now well split, at Pang’s mercy.
Red into the bottom right followed by the pink allows him to use the black and then the blue to attack the loose reds from both sides.
Another break off 22 ends when he leaves himself short of the black then cuts too thin as he aimed for the bottom right (I’m calling right and left from the viewers. position, not the players from baulk.)
Pang 44-0 O’Sullivan
02:51 PM BST
Pang Junxu to break
And gets the first frame started by unusually sticking the white behind the brown after breaking the pack of reds It gives Ronnie a tricky, tight shot to a red on the right. He seems to have escaped the worst by leaving only one red open and it requires a thin cut into the bottom right.
But Pang nails it and is one the blue to the centre left, rolling the cue ball to the right of the black, lining up a red into the bottom right. Perfectly on the black after potting that he rolls back to the left of the bunch of 11 reds.
He rolls one red into the bottom right, breaks the bunch and although the black is on, the break of the reds hasn’t gone as well as he would have hoped.
Pang, however, is straight into the groove, screws back from sinking the black to give him a red into the bottom left using the rest.
But the red sticks in the jaws and spins away. curtailing his break at 22, three reds, two blacks and a blue.
02:45 PM BST
Pang Junxu
Is introduced as ‘the Rising Son’. Ronnie is greeted by ‘the best player in the history of the game, blink and you’ll miss him, the Rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan’.
02:42 PM BST
The players are about to be introduced to the Crucible
Which means that John Higgins will start the final session of his match against Xiao Guodong 12-11 up in the first to 13 contest.
02:24 PM BST
What a pot!
As we wait for O’Sullivan’s match to start, John Higgins is currently locked in an enthralling battle with Xiao Guodong.
Sensational pot from John Higgins in an INCREDIBLY tight game against Xiao Guodong!️ pic.twitter.com/gLj8f8PYWK
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) April 26, 2025
02:20 PM BST
Master vs Apprentice
A quick reminder that seven-time World Champion O’Sullivan has completed 33 seasons as a professional, whilst Junxu is in his 5th!
From Chigwell to the Crucible and now back for the 33rd time
The Rocket has a legacy that will last foreverpic.twitter.com/lUUMwOll4J
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) April 26, 2025
11:54 AM BST
O’Sullivan: ‘I was a bit scared about playing’
Ronnie O’Sullivan revealed he is still ravaged by self-doubt despite completing a stunning demolition job on Ali Carter to secure his place in today’s second round of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible.
The seven-time champion fired three centuries and two more breaks over 50 as he took just 67 minutes to turn a tight and error-strewn overnight lead into a stunning 10-4 triumph over the double former finalist in midweek.
O’Sullivan’s display made a mockery of his recent period of inactivity, having arrived in Sheffield without a tour match to his name since he stuffed his cue in the bin after crashing out of the Championship League in January.
But appearances can be deceptive and the 49-year-old said he had been plagued by thoughts that he had made the wrong decision since he committed to taking his place in the tournament in the middle of last week.
“I thought, what am I doing, coming here and exposing myself, imploding out there, having a meltdown – all that went through my head,” admitted O’Sullivan.
“I was a bit scared about playing. It is a daunting venue to play at anyway, but it’s just about getting on the bike again and playing. I’m really happy that I’ve done it, even if I’d lost it didn’t matter – I’ve made the breakthrough now.”
O’Sullivan’s performance saw him surge to second-favourite for the title with the bookmakers, behind world No 1 Judd Trump, who racked up four centuries in five frames as he turned a 6-3 overnight advantage into a 10-4 first-round win over China’s Zhou Yuelong.
Trump’s heroics took his tally to 98 centuries for the season, just two away from claiming a £100,000 World Snooker Tour bonus, which he could achieve in his upcoming last-16 clash with another former winner, Shaun Murphy.
O’Sullivan’s opponent today, Pang Junxu, became the sixth and final Chinese player to reach the last-16 after completing a 10-7 win over his compatriot, and 12th seed, Zhang Anda.
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