O'Sullivan breezes through to set up Higgins tie

Ronnie O'Sullivan last won the World Snooker Championship in 2022, aged 46 Ronnie O'Sullivan quickly wrapped up victory over China's He Guoqiang at the World Championship to set up a mouth-watering last-16 tie against four-time winner John Higgins. Seven-time world champion O'Sullivan, 50, will now play another member of snooker's fabled 'Class of 92', which also includes Higgins, 50, and 51-year-old Mark Williams - after the trio turned professional in 1992. The last-16 tie against Higgins will start on Saturday evening (19:00 BST), with further sessions on Sunday evening and Monday afternoon (13:00 BST).

O'Sullivan is aiming to win eight world titles, an achievement which would move him clear of Stephen Hendry's seven and set a new record for the modern era. After yesterday's first session, O'Sullivan led 7-2, and stretched that advantage with a break of 62 before potting nine reds and eight blacks at the start of the 10th frame. But O'Sullivan - who made a break of 153 at the World Open last month, the highest break in professional snooker after a snooker left a free ball, which acted like a 16th red - then opted to play for blue instead of black.

A break of 113 took him one frame away from victory, which he sealed with another century break of 100 to clinch a 10-2 win. Mark Selby has not won a match at the Crucible since reaching the final in 2023 Four-time winner Mark Selby only needs three more frames to move into the last 16 after dominating the opening session to lead 7-2 against Wales' Jak Jones. England's Selby, 42, has lost in round one at the Crucible in each of the past two years, but stormed into a 6-0 lead over the 2024 runner-up, helped by breaks of 67 and 50.

Jones took a tight seventh frame, before Selby regained his six-frame advantage thanks to a break of 78, although Jones ended well with a 90 break in the session's final frame. Their match will be played to a finish in the evening session, which begins at 19:00 BST. Seventh seed Selby will aim to continue a remarkable run of results for the seeded players, with victories for all 13 to have finished their matches so far.