SNOOKER: World ChampionshipRonnie O'Sullivan swept imperiously to an 8-1 overnight lead over Ding Junhui in their best-of-19-frames first-round match in the world championship as the 20-year-old Chinese player - already winner of three world ranking titles - was outplayed on his debut in Sheffield.
Such was the quality of O'Sullivan's disciplined and deadly performance that it seemed almost incredible that he has not won a world-ranking title for 25 months, but it was here a year ago that he was obsessively preoccupied with a doomed search for the perfect tip - changing it about 20 times - before his psychological collapse in the semi-finals. Restless and emotionally volatile, he has played to his highest standards only once this season - in trouncing Ding 10-3 in January's final of the Masters at Wembley.
Ding did panic unreasonably early in yesterday's game, attempting several risky long pots when caution should have been paramount, but O'Sullivan scored heavily and, when necessary, played tight safety.
With O'Sullivan needing a snooker in the seventh it briefly seemed as if Ding might leave himself manageable overnight arrears, but the twice world champion extracted the necessary penalty points as he stole that frame on the black and, with runs of 63, 70 and 45, added the remaining two frames of the day.
Ding carries a heavy weight of national expectation, but the proceedings were a grave disappointment to the peak-time audience in China of more than 100 million - perhaps to no one more so than Dr You Sen Huang from Beijing who a decade ago invested £200 at 500 to 1 with William Hill on a Chinese player winning the world title before 2010.
Ireland's Fergal O'Brien came back from 2-0 down to level at 4-4 against England's Barry Hawkins. The match resumes this morning.
However, Dubliner Joe Delaney, making his first appearance at the Crucible since turning professional 16 years ago, was beaten 10-2 by Matthew Stevens of Wales.
Today's Order of Play
First Round (best of 19 frames) -10am: B Hawkins (4) v F O'Brien (4). 10am & 7pm: S Murphy v J Trump. 2.30pm: Ronnie O'Sullivan (8) v D Junhui (1). 7pm: S Maguire v J Perry.
