On April 22, Beijing time, the Snooker World Championships continued. Rocket o'Sullivan ushered in a strong challenge from Mark Allen, and as a result, in the first stage, O'Sullivan played a fiery offensive hand, leading 6-2. For O'Sullivan, such a score has allowed him to occupy a very good promotion situation.
O'Sullivan is currently ranked No. 1 in the world, while Allen is ranked No. 15 in the world. However, O'Sullivan wants to maintain the world number one after the end of the World Championships, and he needs to win the crucible. In the first round, O'Sullivan easily beat Gilbert. And Allen is also in good shape, facing Donaldson, Allen shot a 7-shot 50+ and finally won 10-6 to advance.
In the first inning, O'Sullivan scored a single 87-point clean sheet against Allen. In the second set, Allen also pulled back the set with a color, 68 points, 116-0. In the third set, O'Sullivan's hand was still hot, and he scored 131 points to take a 2-1 lead. In the next two sets, O'Sullivan scored 69 and 96 points with a single shot, and kept a clean sheet in both sets to lead 4-1.
In the 6th set, O'Sullivan won again 75-23. In the 7th set, Allen missed the lead, and O'Sullivan scored a single shot of 57 points to win another set 82-53 to give a 6-1 lead. In the 8th set, O'Sullivan finally made a mistake, and although Allen failed to win with a single shot, he won 69-22 with the advantage he had accumulated before. At the end of the first phase, O'Sullivan was far ahead of the curve 6-2.
It is worth mentioning that after Allen made a mistake in the 8th set, he smashed the table with his fist to vent his anger. This game was really depressing for Allen. O'Sullivan's feel is almost unstoppable, and he himself is prone to mistakes. For Allen, this game is probably already less fierce.