Ronnie O’Sullivan returns to the Crucible this week with the aim of becoming the record holder for most snooker World Championships won.
He has won the title seven times, a record he holds with Stephen Hendry, but would move clear with an eighth victory should he successfully won the tournament in Sheffield.
O’Sullivan is in fine form having triumphed in the UK Championship and Masters earlier this season and there is the possibility that he can make a clean sweep of snooker’s Triple Crown events if he wins this competition. It would be the first time in his career that O’Sullivan has achieved that feat.
And O’Sullivan roared out of the blocks as he built an 8-1 lead over Jackson Page in the first session of their first round match at the Crucible. O’Sullivan looked up for the task from the off as he fired four half-centuries plus a break of 122 in the fifth frame as he left the young Welsh qualifier next to no chance of rescuing the situation when they resumed Thursday.
It took just two frames in the session for O’Sullivan to confirm his spot in the second round where he will face another Welshman in Ryan Day.
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