Halo World Championship
Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 19 April to 5 May
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app; live text coverage of selected matches; updates on BBC Radio 5 Live
Ronnie O’Sullivan produced a ruthless display on Wednesday to thrash Ali Carter and move into the last 16 of the 2025 World Championship.
Seven-time Crucible winner O’Sullivan, 49, was playing in his first match since January, when he snapped his cue and threw it in the bin following four losses in five matches at the Championship League event.
After Tuesday’s opening session he held a 5-4 lead over two-time finalist Carter, but O’Sullivan was on top form as he won the first five frames on Wednesday to seal a 10-4 success.
It set up a last-16 tie against Chinese qualifier Pang Junxu, who defeated 12th seed Zhang Anda earlier on Wednesday.
Neither O’Sullivan nor Carter had been in the best form in the opening session, with Carter taking the last two frames to leave the match finally balanced.
But breaks of 59 and 117 saw O’Sullivan stretch his lead to 7-4 without Carter scoring a point.
The world number 18, who had to battle through two qualifying rounds, did make a break of 43 in the 12th frame, but a missed black off the spot was brutally punished with O’Sullivan’s run of 74 taking him two frames from victory.
He then compiled a superb 123 with Carter again not scoring a point.
The mid-session interval gave Carter a chance to gather his thoughts, but he then left a chance for O’Sullivan early after the restart.
‘The Rocket’ wrapped up a magnificent performance with a wonderful break of 131 for his fourth century of the match, his 211th at the Crucible and the 1,286th of his career.
Reigning Masters champion Shaun Murphy also moved into the last 16 with a 10-4 victory in a high-quality match with Crucible debutant Daniel Wells.
Murphy, 42, is aiming to win a second world title 20 years after his first success and could face world number one Judd Trump in the next round.
Against Welsh qualifier Wells, the Sheffield crowd were treated to a fine display of snooker with every frame seeing a break of at least 50, including six centuries – three from each player.
Murphy won the Masters in January and is looking to become the first player since Trump in 2018-19 to win that tournament and the World Championship in the same season.
After Tuesday’s first session, Murphy held a 7-2 lead and extended that with a break of 53, to move two frames from victory.
But Wells, 49th in the world, made excellent breaks of 115 and 68 to pull two frames back, before Murphy moved one frame away with a superb run of 133.
He then clinched the victory with a break of 71 in the final frame.
“The hunger and desire never goes away, I’m still trying but you can lose your way in life and sport,” said Murphy. “Working with Peter [Ebdon] has refocused me on everything else.
“Champions do not think like everyone else. For a while I started thinking like everyone else and saw myself as a bit of a draw-filler in major events. Now I’ve had a complete 180, now I believe again and that makes me dangerous.
“I’ve come here this year with my game in the best shape it has been in and if I get my chances I could be a handful for anybody.”
Trump leads China’s Zhou Yuelong 6-3 in their first-round tie, which will be completed from 19:00 BST.
Meanwhile, 2023 world champion Luca Brecel won the last three frames of his first session against Ryan Day but still trails the experienced Welshman 5-4.
Day knocked in a superb 126 break in the opener and was 5-1 up against the world number seven from Belgium, who managed only 120 points in the first six frames.
But Brecel recovered with breaks of 104, 54 and 86 to be only one frame behind for Thursday’s final session.–BBC
