Ronnie O’Sullivan leads rival Ali Carter on snooker return at the Crucible
The pair’s much-hyped first-round clash failed to produce fireworks on or off the table.
Ronnie O’Sullivan had to settle for a single-frame overnight advantage as the opening session of his World Snooker Championship first-round clash against old foe Ali Carter failed to live up to its pre-match hype.
The seven-time champion, returning to the tour for the first time since dumping his cue after losing a Championship League match in January, looked to have scrapped out a 6-3 lead to take into Wednesday afternoon’s scheduled conclusion.
But Carter dug deep after O’Sullivan jawed a long red to the top corner in the final frame of the day, gradually erasing a 51-point deficit and nervelessly clearing the colours to cut his overnight deficit to 5-4.
Prior to Carter’s impressive recovery, breaks of 107 from both men had proved the highlights of an error-strewn affair.
The sluggish display on the table was mirrored by relative serenity off it as the pair, who have engaged in a long-running and highly publicised feud over the course of their careers, shared a warm handshake prior to the opening break.
O’Sullivan and Carter famously barged shoulders during Carter’s 13-9 win in the second round in 2018 and recriminations flew after O’Sullivan’s Masters final win in 2023, with Carter accusing his rival of “snotting” all over the floor and O’Sullivan responding by saying Carter should “get a life”.
After sharing the first two frames here, O’Sullivan took the third when Carter failed to punish him for leaving a red dangling over the pocket, and the 49-year-old’s subsequent century then put him in command at 3-1.
Carter once again reduced the deficit but missed the simplest of straight reds on a break of 60 in the sixth and allowed O’Sullivan to clear up and regain his two-frame lead.
For all his evident rustiness, O’Sullivan was clearly still capable of keeping a misfiring Carter at bay and a knock of 85 in the next sent him three frames clear.
But Carter responded with a 107 of his own then seized his chance in the final frame of the day with a fine clearance.
Ding Junhui was made to work overtime by qualifier Zak Surety before booking his place in round two for the first time in five years with a 10-7 win.
Ding, the 2016 finalist, had threatened to blow shell-shocked Surety off the table in Monday’s opening session, winning the first four frames and probably counting himself unfortunate to lead only 6-2 overnight.
It was a different story on Tuesday as Surety reeled off four centuries in the opening five frames to become the first player to hit four hundreds on his Crucible debut.
That helped him narrow the deficit to 7-6 and then 8-7 before the Chinese player’s experience told and consecutive breaks of 116 and 75 saw him through.
Shaun Murphy made a strong start to his bid for a second world title 20 years after his first as some heavy scoring saw him take a commanding 7-2 lead against Daniel Wells.
Masters champion Murphy and debutant Wells each made two centuries in a high-quality session but a run of four frames in a row proved the difference as Murphy flexed his muscles.
Zhang Anda leads fellow Chinese player Pang Junxu 5-3 after winning the final two frames of their marathon session.