Ronnie O’Sullivan polished off his 13-4 victory over Pang Junxu in the opening frame of the evening session to pounce on his opponent’s mistake when lining up a long red and making a break of 95 to clean up in 20 minutes.
The seven-time champion duly qualified for his 23 quarter-final at the Crucible and will start his match against Si Jiahui, who defeated qualifier Ben Woollaston 13-10 on Monday afternoon, on Wednesday morning.
But O’Sullivan told the BBC he feels so “unconfident, it is horrible”.
“If either of the opponents I’ve played had played well, I’d have got beaten but they’ve played poorly, let me off the hook and I’ve managed to score a few,” he said.
“I’ve already completely overachieved as far as this tournament is concerned. I’ll grind it out for the longer picture.
“People tell me you’re not as bad as you think but it’s really hard for me to judge – it’s probably the worst I’ve ever felt.”
Full report to follow…
07:36 PM BST
Ronnie O’Sullivan speaks to BBC Sport
The cue’s fine, it’s me. I’ve given up trying to work it out. I’m trying to coach my way out of it, give it a good go because I feel so unconfident. I got messed up by a coach and I’m trying to unravel it but I don’t know if I can.
I hit a safety shot so thin it’s like guesswork. Potting the balls feels all right. It’s about going out there and do yourself justice and enjoy it.
I love grafting but I can’t handle not knowing where the balls are going. I can’t tell you if it’s a good cue because I’m hitting the ball so bad. I’ve been through about 30.
I thought this [playing here] could be a disaster and if either of the opponents had played well I would have lost.
I’ve won this tournament playing bad, so it can be done when you’re late thirties, early forties but I’m not sure it can be done when you’re 50 and it’s hard to bend over and tie your shoelaces.
Feeling wise it’s the worst I’ve felt. I don’t know where my back arm is where my right leg is.
I’m a bit like Seve, the safety and the long game I’m nowhere but I’m all right round the greens.
I’ll give it two years and I’ll prepare to grind it out for the longer picture but if it’s no fun … [he will quit].
Si will be the acid test, he scores. He buried me in Saudi Arabia this year. I was scrapping but his potting power was too much for me.
07:27 PM BST
O’Sullivan wins 13-4
As soon as Pang opened the door with his poor execution of a risky long red and Ronnie’s control of the cueball does the rest.
He can’t get the century as he is a bit short of the green but at a break of 95, that’s enough.
07:25 PM BST
O’Sullivan looks like cleaning up
With four reds left, O’Sullivan’s break stands at 63. An on he goes
07:24 PM BST
Pang misses by miles
Pang takes on a long pot to the bottom right and misses by a country mile, leaving the reds at O’Sullivan’s mercy.
He starts with a red into the bottom left, followed by the black, and starts to build a break with the reds perfectly placed to clear up.
07:22 PM BST
O’Sullivan foul
Lots of talk about the difference between brass and titanium ferrules around the tip. Ronnie has switched to titanium on this new cue, having snapped his trusty favourite in exasperation in January.
Excellent safety from Pang and Ronnie fouls by missing the red when he swerves it round the blue. Pang askes him to play it again and this time O’Sullivan hits it too thick and leaves a red on to the middle left. He pots it but the cueball kisses the brown and he has to go for safety again, not very precisely.
Pang 17-0 O’Sullivan
07:18 PM BST
Duelling safety
By contrast, O’Sullivan’s is more accurate though he leaves a very long pot on to the bottom right. Pang goes for it and cuts the red too thin but returns the cueball close enough to baulk as O’Sullivan opts for safety again, waiting for Pang to take a risk and come a cropper.
07:16 PM BST
Cat and mouse
Pang lacks precision with his safety shots and all O’Sullivan has to do is be patient.
07:14 PM BST
Pang Junxu to break
Pang, having received a standing ovation which put a huge smile on his face when he walked out, raising both arms, breaks and displaces a couple of reds and returns the cueball to baulk.
O’Sullivan responds with a clip of one of the loose reds that leaves a long pot to the green pocket on.
And Pang nails it then knocks in the green, screwing the white to set up a long pot to the bottom left, which he also sinks and lines up the black perfectly.
After potting the black, the cueball kisses the nearest red and leaves only a tricky shot to the middle right on and he rattles it into the jaws and out again.
Pang 12-0 O’Sullivan.
07:09 PM BST
Rob Walker introduces the players
Luca Brecel is leading Ding Junhui 12-4, the same as Ronnie O’Sullivan’s lead over Pang Junxu.
Wonder if they’ll put on an exhibition for the audience of both matches are over after one frame?
Does John Virgo still do his Mike Yarwood act?
06:43 PM BST
Quarter-final opponent for tonight’s winner
Si has yet to reach the heights of his 2023 form but his break in the 22nd frame was pretty impressive.
A CENTURY! 👏
Si Jiahui extends his lead through back-to-back frames. #WorldChampionshippic.twitter.com/AFq5nwxl46
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) April 28, 2025
04:20 PM BST
Preview: Ronnie on the verge
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of the concluding session of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s best-of-25, second-round match at the World Snooker Championship against Pang Junxu. The Rocket or “El Cohete” as he is known to the pool-hall hustlers in downtown Lima leads 12-4 after winning the final six frames of yesterday’s session in succession, racking up breaks of 79, 80, 105 and 136 to move 10-4 up before prevailing in toe-to-toe skirmishes in the last two. That means he needs one more frame to qualify for his 23rd (’TWENTY-THIRD’ in the spirit of the teleprinter for freak scores or statistical absurdities) quarter-final at the Crucible.
Should form, class and logic combine to settle this in Ronnie’s favour and euthanise this blog in record time, he will have a day off before facing the No 13 seed, Si Jiahui of China, who knocked out the qualifier Ben Woollaston this afternoon 13-10, in a bid to qualify for his 13th semi-final and first since his last tournament victory in the Peoples’ Republic of South Yorkshire in 2022.
It is remarkable to remember as O’Sullivan guns for an eighth world title that would make him the undisputed champion of the Crucible era that he won his first world title 24 years ago when Stephen Hendry had won seven championships and would almost clinch his octet in 2002 in that epic 18-17 defeat by Peter Ebdon when he potted the cueball in the final frame. An eighth would also take him level with Fred Davis and John Pulman, leaving only Joe Davis far off on the horizon with 15.
Is that possible with a new cue and such a long lay-off? The former world champion, Ken Doherty, thinks a lack of a truly competitive opponent so far may also hurt him as he approaches the sharp end. “To win this championship, I think he’s going to have to play better,” Doherty told the BBC. “He hasn’t really been touched yet and he looks like he’s going to win this match quite comfortably. After having this hiatus, to have these couple of matches in the World Championship to get up and running, nobody’s laid a glove on him yet. Ronnie just went up the gears, he’s getting better and better but I’m sure there are little bits that he’s still not happy with.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan polished off his 13-4 victory over Pang Junxu in the opening frame of the evening session to pounce on his opponent’s mistake when lining up a long red and making a break of 95 to clean up in 20 minutes.
The seven-time champion duly qualified for his 23 quarter-final at the Crucible and will start his match against Si Jiahui, who defeated qualifier Ben Woollaston 13-10 on Monday afternoon, on Wednesday morning.
But O’Sullivan told the BBC he feels so “unconfident, it is horrible”.
“If either of the opponents I’ve played had played well, I’d have got beaten but they’ve played poorly, let me off the hook and I’ve managed to score a few,” he said.
“I’ve already completely overachieved as far as this tournament is concerned. I’ll grind it out for the longer picture.
“People tell me you’re not as bad as you think but it’s really hard for me to judge – it’s probably the worst I’ve ever felt.”
Full report to follow…
07:36 PM BST
Ronnie O’Sullivan speaks to BBC Sport
The cue’s fine, it’s me. I’ve given up trying to work it out. I’m trying to coach my way out of it, give it a good go because I feel so unconfident. I got messed up by a coach and I’m trying to unravel it but I don’t know if I can.
I hit a safety shot so thin it’s like guesswork. Potting the balls feels all right. It’s about going out there and do yourself justice and enjoy it.
I love grafting but I can’t handle not knowing where the balls are going. I can’t tell you if it’s a good cue because I’m hitting the ball so bad. I’ve been through about 30.
I thought this [playing here] could be a disaster and if either of the opponents had played well I would have lost.
I’ve won this tournament playing bad, so it can be done when you’re late thirties, early forties but I’m not sure it can be done when you’re 50 and it’s hard to bend over and tie your shoelaces.
Feeling wise it’s the worst I’ve felt. I don’t know where my back arm is where my right leg is.
I’m a bit like Seve, the safety and the long game I’m nowhere but I’m all right round the greens.
I’ll give it two years and I’ll prepare to grind it out for the longer picture but if it’s no fun … [he will quit].
Si will be the acid test, he scores. He buried me in Saudi Arabia this year. I was scrapping but his potting power was too much for me.
07:27 PM BST
O’Sullivan wins 13-4
As soon as Pang opened the door with his poor execution of a risky long red and Ronnie’s control of the cueball does the rest.
He can’t get the century as he is a bit short of the green but at a break of 95, that’s enough.
07:25 PM BST
O’Sullivan looks like cleaning up
With four reds left, O’Sullivan’s break stands at 63. An on he goes
07:24 PM BST
Pang misses by miles
Pang takes on a long pot to the bottom right and misses by a country mile, leaving the reds at O’Sullivan’s mercy.
He starts with a red into the bottom left, followed by the black, and starts to build a break with the reds perfectly placed to clear up.
07:22 PM BST
O’Sullivan foul
Lots of talk about the difference between brass and titanium ferrules around the tip. Ronnie has switched to titanium on this new cue, having snapped his trusty favourite in exasperation in January.
Excellent safety from Pang and Ronnie fouls by missing the red when he swerves it round the blue. Pang askes him to play it again and this time O’Sullivan hits it too thick and leaves a red on to the middle left. He pots it but the cueball kisses the brown and he has to go for safety again, not very precisely.
Pang 17-0 O’Sullivan
07:18 PM BST
Duelling safety
By contrast, O’Sullivan’s is more accurate though he leaves a very long pot on to the bottom right. Pang goes for it and cuts the red too thin but returns the cueball close enough to baulk as O’Sullivan opts for safety again, waiting for Pang to take a risk and come a cropper.
07:16 PM BST
Cat and mouse
Pang lacks precision with his safety shots and all O’Sullivan has to do is be patient.
07:14 PM BST
Pang Junxu to break
Pang, having received a standing ovation which put a huge smile on his face when he walked out, raising both arms, breaks and displaces a couple of reds and returns the cueball to baulk.
O’Sullivan responds with a clip of one of the loose reds that leaves a long pot to the green pocket on.
And Pang nails it then knocks in the green, screwing the white to set up a long pot to the bottom left, which he also sinks and lines up the black perfectly.
After potting the black, the cueball kisses the nearest red and leaves only a tricky shot to the middle right on and he rattles it into the jaws and out again.
Pang 12-0 O’Sullivan.
07:09 PM BST
Rob Walker introduces the players
Luca Brecel is leading Ding Junhui 12-4, the same as Ronnie O’Sullivan’s lead over Pang Junxu.
Wonder if they’ll put on an exhibition for the audience of both matches are over after one frame?
Does John Virgo still do his Mike Yarwood act?
06:43 PM BST
Quarter-final opponent for tonight’s winner
Si has yet to reach the heights of his 2023 form but his break in the 22nd frame was pretty impressive.
A CENTURY! 👏
Si Jiahui extends his lead through back-to-back frames. #WorldChampionshippic.twitter.com/AFq5nwxl46
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) April 28, 2025
04:20 PM BST
Preview: Ronnie on the verge
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of the concluding session of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s best-of-25, second-round match at the World Snooker Championship against Pang Junxu. The Rocket or “El Cohete” as he is known to the pool-hall hustlers in downtown Lima leads 12-4 after winning the final six frames of yesterday’s session in succession, racking up breaks of 79, 80, 105 and 136 to move 10-4 up before prevailing in toe-to-toe skirmishes in the last two. That means he needs one more frame to qualify for his 23rd (’TWENTY-THIRD’ in the spirit of the teleprinter for freak scores or statistical absurdities) quarter-final at the Crucible.
Should form, class and logic combine to settle this in Ronnie’s favour and euthanise this blog in record time, he will have a day off before facing the No 13 seed, Si Jiahui of China, who knocked out the qualifier Ben Woollaston this afternoon 13-10, in a bid to qualify for his 13th semi-final and first since his last tournament victory in the Peoples’ Republic of South Yorkshire in 2022.
It is remarkable to remember as O’Sullivan guns for an eighth world title that would make him the undisputed champion of the Crucible era that he won his first world title 24 years ago when Stephen Hendry had won seven championships and would almost clinch his octet in 2002 in that epic 18-17 defeat by Peter Ebdon when he potted the cueball in the final frame. An eighth would also take him level with Fred Davis and John Pulman, leaving only Joe Davis far off on the horizon with 15.
Is that possible with a new cue and such a long lay-off? The former world champion, Ken Doherty, thinks a lack of a truly competitive opponent so far may also hurt him as he approaches the sharp end. “To win this championship, I think he’s going to have to play better,” Doherty told the BBC. “He hasn’t really been touched yet and he looks like he’s going to win this match quite comfortably. After having this hiatus, to have these couple of matches in the World Championship to get up and running, nobody’s laid a glove on him yet. Ronnie just went up the gears, he’s getting better and better but I’m sure there are little bits that he’s still not happy with.”
