Ronnie O’Sullivan’s bid to claim a record eight World Snooker Championship crown continues as the 48-year-old completed the first session of his best-of-25 clash with Stuart Bingham for a place in the semi-finals.
O’Sullivan defeated Ryan Day 13-7 in the second round on Monday before revealing that “intermittent fasting” was playing a key role in his Crucible bid and giving him energy for the 17-day marathon in Sheffield.
The seven-time champion fought back from 3-1 down against 2015 winner Bingham this afternoon and ended things on level terms at 4-4. It is a similar position that world No 2 Judd Trump finds himself in against scrappy Welshman Jak Jones after their opening two sessions finished dead level, meaning they will finish their race to 13 frames on Wednesday morning. locked at 8-8.
Last night, John Higgins won a thriller with Mark Allen to book his place in the quarter-finals. Higgins trailed for much of the match but managed to hang on and force a deciding frame, where he produced a stunning clearance – sparked by a do-or-die doubled red across the table – to edge out Allen and take the win. The consequences of that win seemed to be on display in the quarter-finals this afternoon as Kyren Wilson swept the first half of the opening session 4-0 but Higgins responded with two strong century breaks and heads into tomorrow’s play only trailing 5-3.
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