The Rockets began a strong fight for an eighth title
Ronnie O'Sullivan made his 32nd consecutive appearance at the Crucible Opera House, beating Jackson Page 10-1 in the first round of the World Championships to begin his fight for a record eighth title.
On a reunion with former coach Nick Barrow, O'Sullivan admitted that he was happy with the way he hit the ball and that he was playing as well in training as he had been for several years. The 48-year-old, who lifted the trophy in 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020 and 2022, will be ahead of Stephen Hendry's seven titles if he wins the tournament again. This is O'Sullivan's 28th time reaching the round of 16 at Crucible, and he will face Ryan Day on Sunday and Monday.
The world number one has enjoyed a fantastic season with five titles to his name, and a victory at Sheffield would see him become only the fourth player after Davies, Stephen Hendry and Williams to win all three major titles in the same season.
O'Sullivan told the BBC: "I played well and played well. I'm mentally hard, I'm tough. To be honest, I played badly for two years and I knew I won, but that's what I did, I won. I know how to win. It's something I'm lucky for. It was frustrating that my shot wasn't going very well, but I was just starting to work with my coach, Nick Barrow, who knew everything about my game. He's worked a lot with Frank Adamson, he's not with us anymore, but he's an amazing coach. I decided I couldn't coach myself anymore, but in the last few weeks I've felt good on the field. Like I've been for the past six or seven years. ”
"I don't lie when I say I didn't play well, I know a lot of people think I'm a liar, but I'm not a liar, and I think most people know that now. I'll speak my feelings, and I don't care if I make myself vulnerable. I have the confidence to back this up, and I know that my abilities are there. It's really about finding the right formula. ”
"I'm 48 years old. What's possible in this tournament? How long can you last it? Can I still win a world title at 50? Who knows? I'm probably the only player who can do that, we'll see. ”
"My career is the greatest of all snooker players. How many people can say that they have been the best or most successful in their careers? I should pat myself on the shoulder, because I've always been myself. But the truth is, statistically, no one can achieve what I've achieved at the table. If I had been in my right mind for 30 years, I could have won 10 or 21 world championships, who knows? But it's nice to find out that, let's see what happens next. For me, the most important thing is to enjoy the game. ”
He threw out single-shot 54, 52, 81, 122, 66 and 53 to take an 8-1 lead at the end of the first period. He scored 79 points in the first inning today and then finished in the 11th inning.
"At the beginning of the race, I was like a rabbit in the headlights," Page said. Aside from hitting a 100-100 break when I was down 0-6, I had a terrible performance the whole time. My security is very poor and I don't have a chance. It's tough against the Rockets because you know you can't afford to make any mistakes. I usually like to play against top players and maybe next time I'll get used to it more. ”
At the other table, Gilbert dominated the first period of the second round, but a brilliant clearance from Milkins allowed him to steal the final game and keep the match in suspense from 3-5 down.
Both fighters survived the tiebreaker, ensuring their progress from the first round onwards. Gilbert defeated defending champion Luca Brecel 10-9, and Lao Mi defeated Pang Junxu by the same score.
This afternoon, Gilbert hit a single shot to score 50, 81 and 59 points to lead the out-of-form Milkins 5-2. In the last game, he added another 64 points to continue to expand the score difference, however, Lao Mi played an exciting 48 points to clear the table and snatch the game by one point.
They will return tomorrow at 10am for the second of three games in this best-of-25 format. (Welcome to click to pay attention to moisturizing AB, please indicate the source for reprinting, thank you)