Ronnie O'Sullivan showed that months away from snooker tournaments have not affected him too much after playing a flawless second session to overcome Ally Carter 10-4 frames in a first-round match at the World Championship in Sheffield.

The Rocket returned to the green cloth for the first time since January with a brand new cue and struggled in the early stages of his clash with The Captain. The match, a repeat of the 2008 and 2012 Crucible finals, featured more errors in the first session, which ended 5-4 to Ronnie after Carter took the last two frames to hang on to the match. He had no chance in the second session.

O'Sullivan came out highly motivated and dealt with his opponent in less than an hour and a half, making breaks of 50, 59, 117, 74, 123 and 131 points. Carter simply did not have a day and recorded only 43 points in his assets. For him, this is the 20th defeat in 21 matches against the Rocket, who has lost only four times at the start of the World Cup in a record 33 appearances - in his debut in 1993 (from Alan McManus with 7-10), 2000 (from David Gray with 9-10), 2003 (from Marco Fu with 6-10) and 2019 (from James Cahill with 8-10).

O'Sullivan faces next a Chinese challenge in the face of Pang Junxu. Pang defeated compatriot Zhang Anda 10-7 for his first Crucible win. Ronnie could head for a tough quarterfinal with four-time champion Mark Selby in a rematch of the 2014 final between the two.

Tonight, the match between Judd Trump and Zhou Yuelong is to be finished. The Ace leads 6-3 and if he wins, he will play in the round of 16 against Shaun Murphy in a titanic clash of two former world champions and favorites for the crown. | BGNES