Ronnie O’Sullivan defeated He Guoqiang 10-2 in the first round of the World Snooker Championship, showcasing impressive play with two century breaks. The match lasted only 38 minutes, marking the most decisive victory of the tournament so far.
Key points
Ronnie O’Sullivan won 10-2 against He Guoqiang
Match lasted only 38 minutes
Paul Scholes attended the match
O’Sullivan scored two century breaks
Most emphatic scoreline of the tournament
Mentioned in this story
Ronnie O'SullivanHe GuoqiangPaul Scholes
World Snooker Championship
O'Sullivan
Ronnie O’Sullivan breezed past He Guoqiang to reach the second round of the World Snooker Championship - Richard Sellers/PA
Paul Scholes had paid the Crucible front-row premium to watch Ronnie O’Sullivan and, while it lasted only 38 minutes, he did at least get to see two century breaks.
That was how long snooker’s GOAT needed to turn a 7-2 overnight lead against China’s He Guoqiang into a thumping and highly encouraging 10-2 first-round victory. It is the most emphatic scoreline of the entire tournament so far and, for all O’Sullivan’s “Rusty Ron” protestations, it completed one of the best performances so far this year at the World Championships.
O’Sullivan gave a thumbs up and smile to Scholes at the completion of his match to leave the former England and Manchester United midfielder to watch China’s Si Jiahui and Iran’s Hossein Vafaei play their first round match.
Paul Scholes watches on as Ronnie O'Sullivan opens the session with a BANG at the Crucible 🚀 pic.twitter.com/CxTL7RJSd7
O’Sullivan had briefly even threatened another Crucible maximum 147 but, after nine reds and eight blacks, he then took a blue in the 11th frame. It all sets up a mouth-watering second round match against fellow 50-year-old John Higgins, who O’Sullivan first played at the Crucible 30 years ago and beat in the final a quarter of a century ago for the first of his seven world titles.
Higgins is himself still among the leading contenders and going for a fifth world title.
“It’s still rusty Ron,” said O’Sullivan, who has brought two different cues with him to Sheffield. “I did a good job considering. A bit of a roll of the dice, a gamble, I was a bit nervous because I thought I could look a bit silly but you have to back yourself. I make some crazy decisions in everyone else’s eyes [with changing cues and tips] but they make complete sense to me and it’s seemed to work over the years so I tend to listen to my own advice.”
Q&A
What was the final score of Ronnie O'Sullivan's match against He Guoqiang?
Ronnie O'Sullivan won the match with a score of 10-2.
How long did Ronnie O'Sullivan's match last at the World Snooker Championship?
The match lasted only 38 minutes.
Who watched Ronnie O'Sullivan's match at the Crucible?
Paul Scholes attended the match to watch Ronnie O'Sullivan play.
What notable achievements did Ronnie O'Sullivan accomplish in his match?
O'Sullivan achieved two century breaks during the match.
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Of the prospect of facing his old rival again, he added: “A couple of oldies. I was saying just hanging around this venue I feel kind of old now because everyone is 22, 23, it’s like walking into a creche but we are still hanging around and having a go. I am not the player I was and probably never will be but as long as I can enjoy the game... I am starting to enjoy it again. I am getting through the ball but still not good enough to win these events, I have to rely on a bit of luck.
The Rocket is into Round 2! 🚀
Ronnie O'Sullivan makes it a hat-trick of centuries to win in his 2026 Crucible opener 👏 pic.twitter.com/XHOHU9iq8b
“John loves playing me. I think he plays better than me than I play against him. I think in a way I will be a bit of an underdog because I’ve hardly played over the last three years compared to John. He’s probably favourite but it’s a different type of pressure.”
Although O’Sullivan has now slipped down the rankings and is seeded only 12th to Higgins’ fifth this year, he has also played a far more limited tournament schedule. There have also been other encouraging signs in recent months, with O’Sullivan following up his 153 total clearance in the International Open in China with a resounding victory against Higgins in the final of the invitational John Virgo Trophy in Ireland last week.
03:36pm
The Rocket’s winning moment
The Rocket is into Round 2! 🚀
Ronnie O'Sullivan makes it a hat-trick of centuries to win in his 2026 Crucible opener 👏 pic.twitter.com/XHOHU9iq8b
“Most important thing is how do you come through [the pressure] and come on the right side of the victories. That’s probably my biggest asset, probably not being the best at potting or break-building or safety, but I know how to win.”
03:31pm
O’Sullivan: ‘I make crazy decisions but they make sense to me’
“I brought two cues, I’ve been saving this one all year because it had a bit of life in it.. I can get used to anything pretty quickly if I like it. Tip wasn’t good yesterday, I did a good job considering. Bit of a role of the dice, bit of a gamble, bit nervous because I thought you could look a bit silly but you have to back yourself. I make some crazy decisions in everyone else’s eyes but they make complete sense to me and it seems to have worked for me over the years so I just tend to listen to my own advice.”
03:21pm
A class reunion
With O’Sullivan-Higgins booked in for Saturday’s evening session, snooker fans are now allowed to get excited about the possibility of having all three members of the Class of ‘92 – O’Sullivan, Higgins and Mark Williams – gracing the Crucible floor at the same time. It would, though, rely on Williams and Barry Hawkins’ 25-frame second-round match reaching a third and final session.
When asked about this possible meeting of the trio, Higgins said: “It has maybe happened in previous years but now, as we got on in life, and we’re not going to be about forever, so that would be a special occasion.”
03:16pm
Frame 12: O’Sullivan 10 Guoqiang 2
Guoqiang comes to the table with O’Sullivan already having raced into a 20-point lead. As has been the story for much of this encounter, he is unable to get anything going despite O’Sullivan leaving reds over both middle pockets.
With the pack nicely split, O’Sullivan makes serene progress through various red-pink combinations, caressing the cue ball into position A each time. He passes frame ball just before the match passes the three-hour mark and is even able to bring a tricky red off the cushion with precise cuing.
Now into the colours, O’Sullivan has the chance to sneak in a third century on the number. In the black goes and that is game over. 10-2.
Frame 12 (best of 19): O’Sullivan 120 Guoqiang 1
03:06pm
O’Sullivan experimenting with new cue
An interesting chat on the BBC about O’Sullivan’s equipment – apparently he is using a new cue in Sheffield. The Rocket had famously been a lifelong John Parris cue user before making a shock switch to a Ton Praram model during last year’s World Championship semi-final, even changing his ferrule from brass to titanium. At this season’s Shanghai Masters he said he was using a Sunny Akani-modified cue and went on to make his double 147s in Saudi Arabia with it.
No intel yet on his choice of weaponry here in Sheffield, but the fact that he has flitted between cues is probably not the best sign. You would not see Rory McIlroy’s trusted TaylorMade driver giving way to another. To be fair, his eye-watering contract would not allow for it, but you get my drift.
03:03pm
Frame 11: O’Sullivan 9 Guoqiang 2
O’Sullivan mistakenly drops in the black to hand Guojiang seven free points, but is back at the table soon after and lands a stunning long red into the right corner pocket. It is followed by an assured black cut into the opposite pocket and, once again, the Rocket is in with plenty of reds placed in inviting positions.
He goes red-black seven times and then chooses to cannon into the four reds grouped at the apex of the rack and splits them well. He is, though, unable to get back onto the black and so pots a blue and pink before making serene progress through the remaining reds, seeing to two placed on the top and left cushions.
The yellow fails to drop but that is a 113 break – the joint-highest of the match – and the Rocket is a frame away from the second round.
Frame 11 (best of 19): O’Sullivan 113 Guoqiang 7
02:53pm
Paul Scholes is at the Crucible
Paul Scholes watches on as Ronnie O'Sullivan opens the session with a BANG at the Crucible 🚀 pic.twitter.com/CxTL7RJSd7
Guojiang blinks first and completely loses the cue ball while attempting a long red into the left corner pocket.
O’Sullivan is in and builds a head of steam, speeding through the open reds, with the referee struggling to get out of the way quickly enough at times. He is averaging 13 seconds between shots at the moment – five seconds fewer than yesterday.
A 62 break ends with a mixed red but Guoqiang will not return to the table.
Frame 10 (best of 19): O’Sullivan 68 Guoqiang 19
02:44pm
Frame 10: O’Sullivan 7 Guoqiang 2
Being so far behind in the score, Guoqiang must surely be approaching today as something of a free-hit. And it is the Chinese player who draws first blood in this session, showing off his skills with the rest to send a red into the right corner pocket.
He only gets to 12 before having to cede the table to O’Sullivan but an errant effort at a long pot, the Rocket’s first of the day, puts Guoqiang back in. This time he is only able to add six more points before over-cutting a red to the left middle pocket.
It is a messy start from both players and O’Sullivan catches a red to the right corner pocket thick and we are into a safety battle.
Frame 10 (best of 19): O’Sullivan 6 Guoqiang 19
02:36pm
Players introduced to the crowd
Rob Walker is on the mic once more, and he presents Hossein “The Prince of Persia” Vafaei and Si Jiahui to the Crucible audience.
Next it is He Guojiang who makes his way out to a polite round of applause, and then, finally, it is the man who – according to Walker – is at the “peak of his powers”: Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The Rocket makes it safely to the correct table today, and we are good to go.
02:32pm
Doherty: Ronnie was right on it yesterday
[O’Sullivan] looked fantastic, particularly when he got in, as he always does. He scored pretty well and even pulled off some long pots as well which ahs been a little bit of his Achilles heel over the last couple of seasons... That seems to be tidied up a lot. I just saw his whole demeanour, he was right on it. Very focused. Didn’t take liberties with his opponent when he could have because he was very nervous. He was right on it.
02:26pm
Watch: Ronnie loses his bearings
Who noticed this little mis-step from the Rocket yesterday?
Chasing number eight 🎯🏆
Ronnie O'Sullivan walks out at the Crucible aiming for another piece of history 🔥
Higgins: ‘It might be last time I play Ronnie at the Crucible’
O’Sullivan still has work to do to reach the second round, but a win over Guoqiang would set up an 80th professional meeting with fellow Class of ‘92 member John Higgins. Their head-to-head is fairly close, with the Rocket securing 41 wins to Higgins’ 35.
The potential match-up was put to Higgins following his first-round victory over Ali Carter, and while he made clear that he did not want to take anything for granted, he could not ignore the possible showdown’s significance.
“It would be a big occasion, possibly might be the last time we play each other [at the Crucible] so it would be a match to savour,” he said.
“But then you’ve got to try and just forget about all that, you’re there to try and win a match, we’re in the second round of the World Championship so you just need to buckle down and give it everything.”
Higgins
John Higgins defeated Ali Carter in the first round - Martin Rickett/PA
02:08pm
Murphy prevails in decider
There was drama last night as Shaun Murphy, the 2005 world champion, was taken the distance by the impressive Fan Zhengyi in what was surely the match of the tournament thus far.
In the deciding frame, Zhengyi opened up a 36-point lead with just four reds on the table. But the world No 63, who had potted courageously all evening, missed a tricky red into the right middle pocket that surely would have given him the match. Murphy cleared up from there, bringing out two reds that were tight to the top cushion with a wonderful cannon, in what he described as the “best break I have ever made”.
So far, all 12 completed matches have been won by the seeded player, while O’Sullivan (12) and Mark Selby (7) lead their openers.
Never in the history of the World Snooker Championship have all 16 seeds swept the first round so it would be a remarkable feat if it were to happen here, especially given the depth of talent in the modern game.
There have been two occasions where 15 seeds reached the second round at the Crucible, in 1983 and 1993.
Here is a recap of the latest results and scores:
Zhao Xintong (1) def. Liam Highfield 10-7
Mark Allen (14) def. Zhang Anda 10-6
Xiao Guodong (9) def. Zhou Yuelong 10-6
Mark Williams (6) def. Antoni Kowalski 10-4
Barry Hawkins (11) def. Matthew Stevens 10-4
Ding Junhui (16) def. David Gilbert 10-5
John Higgins (5) def. Ali Carter 10-7
Kyren Wilson (3) def. Stan Moody 10-7
Wu Yize (10) def. Lei Peifan 10-2
Shaun Murphy (8) def. Fan Zhengyi 10-9
Judd Trump (2) def. Gary Wilson 10-5
Chris Wakelin (13) def. Liam Pullen 10-6
In progress:
Ronnie O’Sullivan (12) leads He Guoqiang 7-2
Mark Selby (7) leads Jak Jones 7-2
01:50pm
O’Sullivan closing on Higgins showdown
Welcome back to our live coverage of the World Snooker Championship. It is day five at the Crucible and Ronnie O’Sullivan returns to complete his first-round match against He Guoqiang having cruised to a healthy 7-2 overnight advantage. Despite initially walking out to the wrong table, the Rocket flew out of the traps to establish a 5-0 lead thanks to some sharp cuing that put paid to the “Rusty Ronnie” moniker he had floated in his pre-match interview. Guoqiang meanwhile struggled to build a head of steam on debut, crucially pushing a green and missing an important blue at the business end of frames he would go on to lose. To his credit, though, the world No 47 knuckled down to ensure the final four frames of the session were shared and remove the possibility of a whitewash – an indignity only twice suffered in World Championship history.
The seven-time champion has not enjoyed a particularly fruitful 2025-26 season but on Tuesday appeared to raise his level – as he often does at the Crucible – with five 50-plus breaks, including a sensational 113 in frame four. The odds are now stacked heavily in his favour coming into the second session with O’Sullivan needing just three frames to set up a mouth-watering showdown with fellow Class of ‘92 member John Higgins. The Scot came through against Ali Carter 10-7 on Sunday.
Of O’Sullivan’s performance, John Parrott, the BBC pundit, said: “[O’Sullivan] lost the focus for a couple of frames [but] the last one there was magnificent. A lot of players would have been tucking in behind the brown, he just knocked it [a long red] straight into the top pocket and the rest of it was pure artistry. The cue ball hardly moved – an example of how to play around the pink spot.”
We had heard precious little from O’Sullivan in the build-up to this World Championship after he skipped Friday’s media day. In a short interview with the BBC he revealed that poor form had forced him to “find a new method” of playing, which appeared to serve him well on Tuesday. How his game holds up as the pressure intensifies remains to be seen.
