Snooker:Ronnie O'Sullivan mixed the sublime with the monotonous as he began his bid for a fourth title at the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible.
Sometimes quite brilliant, at other times chronically frustrating, the opening nine frames of his clash with Liang Wenbo provided an effective encapsulation of O'Sullivan's career.
He developed a 7-2 lead to carry over into tomorrow's concluding session, and should have little trouble converting that advantage into an opening victory.
Centuries in the third and fourth frames, an 86 in the eighth and a 56 in the ninth which could quite easily have become a 147 were the highlights from the title favourite's perspective.
He will be less keen to revisit several other frames, however, during which he and the increasingly lax Liang traded blunders.
O'Sullivan has cast doubt on his ability to win again in Sheffield and add to the titles he won in 2001, 2004 and 2008, and it was difficult to draw too many conclusions from his first appearance.
The scoreline hints at near-total O'Sullivan dominance but it was 3-2 at one stage, and Liang will surely tomorrow reflect on the brown he missed in frame seven as a pivotal point of the match.
There was a long distance between the white and the object ball but it was a pot he would normally make. However Liang played a poor shot, leaving both white and brown in mid-table for O'Sullivan who cleared up to pinch the frame on the black.
O'Sullivan's centuries - 100 and 108 - were quickfire efforts, and he threatened a third of the afternoon in the eighth but broke down on 86.
And when he then fired in seven reds and blacks he looked set to finish the session with a maximum break - worth £157,000 in bonus prize-money. Nine 147s have been made at the Crucible and O'Sullivan has compiled three of them.
The balls could hardly have been any more conveniently placed and he clearly fancied it, yet he missed a routine red with the rest and the chance was gone.
The 34-year-old grimaced, knocked his cue against his forehead and retreated to his seat.
But he was soon up again as Liang missed an easy opener and O'Sullivan was back in with 39 to clinch his five-frame advantage.
It emerged that television cameras had caught O'Sullivan making a rude gesture after missing a pot during his opening session with Liang, however it is believed he was directing it at himself in frustration and no action was expected to be taken against him.