Ronnie O’Sullivan was scared of having ‘a meltdown’ before opening win at Crucible
The seven-time champion fired three centuries and two more breaks over 50 in a10-4 win over Ali Carter
Ronnie O’Sullivan revealed he was still ravaged by self-doubt despite completing a stunning demolition job on Ali Carter to secure his place in the second round of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible.
The seven-time champion fired three centuries and two more breaks over 50 as he took just 67 minutes to turn a tight and error-strewn overnight lead into a stunning 10-4 triumph over the double former finalist.
O’Sullivan’s display made a mockery of his recent period of inactivity, having arrived in Sheffield without a tour match to his name since he stuffed his cue in the bin after crashing out of the Championship League in January.
But appearances can be deceptive and the 49-year-old said he had been plagued by thoughts that he had made the wrong decision since he committed to taking his place in the tournament in the middle of last week.
“I thought, what am I doing, coming here and exposing myself, imploding out there, having a meltdown – all that went through my head,” admitted O’Sullivan.
“I was a bit scared about playing. It is a daunting venue to play at anyway, but it’s just about getting on the bike again and playing. I’m really happy that I’ve done it, even if I’d lost it didn’t matter – I’ve made the breakthrough now.”
Carter had done well to pull within one by the end of Tuesday’s opening session, but he failed to score a point in the first two frames upon the resumption as O’Sullivan dispatched breaks of 59 and 117 to extend his overnight lead to 7-4.
Carter blew it again in the 12th frame, running out of position on 28, and, clearly in no mood to hang around, O’Sullivan produced a clearance of 74 followed by further centuries either side of the interval to complete his win.
O’Sullivan’s performance saw him surge to second-favourite for the title with the bookmakers, behind world number one Judd Trump, who racked up four centuries in five frames as he returned to turn a 6-3 overnight advantage into a 10-4 win over China’s Zhou Yuelong.
Trump’s heroics took his tally to 98 centuries for the season, just two away from claiming a £100,000 World Snooker Tour bonus, which he could achieve in his upcoming last-16 clash with another former winner, Shaun Murphy.
Asked about the prospect of his bumper payday, Trump told the BBC: “It’s not in my mind but I can feel it in the crowd – it gets quite tense every time I get towards the end.
“It’s something I would like to get out of the way and concentrate on playing Shaun. I felt a little bit nervous tonight but they were going in somehow. It was a great performance but I’ve got to get that (record) out of the way.”
Next up for O’Sullivan will be Pang Junxu, who became the sixth and final Chinese player to reach the last 16 after completing a 10-7 win over his compatriot and 12th seed Zhang Anda.
The 25-year-old was beaten 10-7 by O’Sullivan on his Crucible debut two years ago but has improved since and reached his second ranking semi-final at the Northern Ireland Open in October.
“The pressure was huge at the start and I didn’t perform well in the first session,” Pang said, “But after falling behind, I relaxed and managed to play better.
“I think I have a chance to win. You learn everything from playing (against top players). Their shot selection, their response, and how to handle pressure – there’s so much I can learn from them.”