Snooker:Ronnie O'Sullivan leads 6-2 after the opening session of his clash against Shaun Murphy in the second round of the Betfred.com World Championship.
The pair started with little fluency as though the enormity of the meeting at the Crucible was getting both of them down. But gradually O'Sullivan began to impress, and he had breaks of 76, 75 and 86 in the final three frames of the session to open a 6-2 lead.
The contest will resume on tomorrow afternoon.
Meanwhile, O'Sullivan saluted the sports psychiatrist he turned to at a time of need before the session. He has only recently begun work with Dr Steve Peters, who has previously operated to successful effect with Britain's Olympic cycling team, but the initial results seem impressive.
Heading into the match, 35-year-old O'Sullivan wrote on Twitter: "It's been a tough year for various reasons but hope to have turned a corner.
"I used to run to escape my demons. It was something positive. It kept me out of trouble. Hahah. Gonna try and put snooker first now though. I would recommend it though.. It's good for the mind... Not sure I need it as much now though.
He added: "Change of heart has been helped by Dr Steve Peters. Amazing man. It's early days but I'm enjoying the game much more. The key is to enjoy. As long as I enjoy playing I will continue to play. If not then I can't carry on . It was killing me :("
Earlier, Judd Trumpmade a breezy start to the middle Saturday as he clinched his quarter-final place. The 21-year-old from Bristol had done the legwork against Martin Gouldin the opening two sessions, in which he built an 11-5 lead.
Although Gould narrowed that gap, the 29-year-old Pinner potter was soon one frame away from defeat.
Trump fired in a break of 69 to go to 12-6, and 53 in the next frame made sure of a 13-6 victory and will now face either Ali Carter or Graeme Dott.
Trump, who won the China Open at the start of April and then knocked out defending world champion Neil Robertson in the first round in Sheffield, is now "super-confident" about his chances of becoming the youngest world champion this century.
"I'm definitely super-confident. I feel like I've got the game to go out and win it," he said. "I'm on such a high, I've got used to winning whereas I was used to losing before. The last month has exceeded my wildest expectations.
"I have to bring myself back to reality sometimes. I've only won two games, so it's nothing that special. I've still got a long way to go. There are a lot of tough players out there to beat."
But Trump firmly believes he can triumph in Sheffield this year and Gould agrees.
"If he scores like he has been and keeps potting the long ones like he does, then who knows, his name could be on the title," said the world number 22. "We've all known Judd for many a year, and we all know what he can do."
Stephen Hendry was marginally younger than Trump is when he landed his first Crucible crown in 1990.
But aside from Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan, arguably Trump is the most exciting talent of his age that there has been.
He wants to quell expectations on one hand, but is clearly at the same time excited about what he can achieve.
"There's still a long way to go, we're not halfway yet," he said. "It feels like I've been here forever. Three days for the one game is different to what I'm used to. But I'm learning while I'm out there and so far I'm going all right."
Both Trump and Gould pinpointed a respotted black in frame 13 as key to the outcome of their match.
Trump potted it to lead 8-5, and pulled away.
"He found another gear," Gould said. "He didn't really miss too much and I just sat comfortably in my chair and watched. It was a massive turning point. My head didn't drop but everything I tried didn't go my way. Fair play to him, he played well."
Trump will meet Graeme Dottafter he nicked victory from a distraught Ali Carter.The latter put himself in position to win several frames which he somehow squandered, and indeed looked like forcing a decider when he led 52-21 before letting in Dott for a clearance of 38.
Carter, runner-up at the Crucible three years ago, said: "I lost five or six frames that I should never have lost in a million years. I was absolutely robbed in a couple of them. That last frame was just a joke really.
"I'm very disappointed. I gift-wrapped him 5-3 in the first session and you can't do that with top players. All credit to Graeme, he's played well. It was a good match, it's just a shame I ended up on the wrong end of it. I've had a few matches like that in my career. That's got to be looked at I think."
Dott offered a similar verdict, saying: "In the first session I played terribly, and how I managed to win it 5-3 was unbelievable. Ali will be gutted. He's got to be. I think he cued better than me. I stole so many frames.
"I must have won about five on the black with clearances, but you don't practise with John Higgins over all these years and not learn how to do it. He's a machine at doing that."