RONNIE O’SULLIVAN REQUIRED just one hour and 22 minutes to establish an 8-1 overnight lead against Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh as their eagerly-anticipated first-round clash turned into a one-man rampage.
The match between the two fastest players on the circuit saw O’Sullivan begin his World Championship campaign by blasting seven breaks over 50, including two centuries, and record an average shot-time for the session of just 13.41 seconds.
If it was the kind of display that would ordinarily have brought a packed crowd to its feet, it was instead greeted with bursts of canned crowd noise relayed into the arena to mark centuries and frame wins, and which initially appeared to bewilder the five-time world champion.
But otherwise O’Sullivan issued nothing but steely resolve as he set about blitzing his shell-shocked opponent, who was guilty of gifting him a series of gilt-edged chances which the favourite would ruthlessly exploit.
Breaks of 101 and 85 in the first two frames set the tone for a tie which had looked set to test O’Sullivan, given Thepchaiya’s near-miss against eventual champion Judd Trump in the first round last year, when he lost in a deciding frame.
Unfortunately Thepchaiya’s carelessness continued in the next as O’Sullivan stepped in to clear to pink for a break of 115, a foul yielding six of the seven points the Thai had managed to accumulate.
Thepchaiya had his first chance in the fourth frame but missed a simple red down the cushion on 42, and O’Sullivan duly cleared to make it 4-0 at the mid-session interval.
A loose break-off shot from Thepchaiya continued his agony, as O’Sullivan continued with breaks of 86 and 76 to extend his lead to 6-0, before the Thai avoided the indignity of a third Crucible whitewash by taking the next with a fine break of 69.
If one might have imagined a note of sympathy in the canned crowd noise that greeted Thepchaiya getting on the scoreboard, it may have extended further as O’Sullivan benefited from a fluked red to win the eighth frame at the second attempt.
O’Sullivan ensured he will take an 8-1 lead into Monday morning’s concluding session as he wrapped up a thoroughly dominant display with a break of 65.
Fellow former champions Neil Robertson and John Higgins expressed their support for the crowd experiment after reaching the second round with 10-5 wins over Liang Wenbo and Matthew Stevens respectively.
Robertson, who won five frames in succession to turn a slender 5-4 overnight advantage into a comfortable victory, said: “It’s a really good addition.
“As long as they don’t add somebody opening a packet of crisps and the random mobile phones going off – as long as they keep it to the end of frames and somebody making a century – it’s actually really nice.”
Four-time winner Higgins, who converted a 6-3 overnight lead into an equally comfortably success, said it was an improvement on the previous silence which he described as “like going to Mass.”
Higgins added: “It was a lot better having some atmosphere in there. I don’t know if it would be feasible to have someone pressing a button if you play a good shot, but it would have to be someone who was pretty knowledgeable.
“I still feel the pressure out there – it’s still the Crucible you’re playing in. It’s still a venue with seats and you do feel the nerves just from being here.”
Stevens had started the second session in style with a break of 138 but missed a big chance to pull back to 8-6 when he missed a simple black, and allowed Higgins to get the snooker required to go on to win the frame and ultimately the match.
Chinese 16th seed Yan Bingtao moved close to sealing a second-round clash with Judd Trump has he built a 7-1 overnight lead against qualifier Elliot Slessor.
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This guy is completely overratted
@jay bernard: don’t know how he warrants a contract of that size given his achievements in the game. He needs to start scoring regularly especially if the Wissam Ben Yedder rumours are true. WBY is a real fox in the box, Deschamps really rates him.
Best goal tally for 21 and under in the EPL, La Liga & Seria A in what was a shocking season under two different managers. 200k going to 300k based on incentives. Manchester born and bred. He’ll turn out to be some player yet
An absolute joke.
It’s 200k a week max as per Simon Stone – reliable United journo
@Brian: and you think that even £200,000 is acceptable for a player that scored 10 league goals last season. He’s English!!! He has been overhyped and overrated since they Day he broke into the first team by the British press, £200,000 per week for a very average player that would be more suited to playing for a team like Newcastle, Everton or Southampton. Mid table player at best, that shouldn’t be earning anything over 100,000 never mind 200,000 or 300,000.
@Devilsavocado: And eventually he will be destroyed by the British press too, I wish Utd would sell him on now
Beans Beans Beans
@Alan Brazil: is all you eat. Stand well back!
The club is a circus. Run by clowns who aren’t football men
@munsterman: and if you look at the nonsense that ich bin Brendan has been scribbling up there, it seems they are supported by a few clowns as well…..
@Devilsavocado: haha! G!mp
@Ich bin brendan: come on,, seriously mate, you really don’t believe the nonsense that you were writing in your previous posts do you?? There isn’t a club that finished in the top 5 above Utd that the lad would get into as a first team player. Not a single club that will be in the champions league next year had a bit of interest in buying him, he’s at best a bench player for Utd, but a 200,000 a week bench player??? WTF is going on at Utd that they offered that much money to him?? Where else was he going to go, they easily could have halved that and even then he should still consider himself lucky to be wearing the Utd jersey,, come on, I can’t be the only one who sees this….
@Devilsavocado: quit looking for validation. I’ll correct myself in that he didn’t score v pool in their 3-1 spanking but everything stated is fact inc. turning the best rb inside out and scoring in every debut. Barcelona were being touted as making an official approach, how much of that is being true is as truthful to say not a single team were, it would take a team of that stature to pull a local lad away from his local team. Apart from Kane for Spurs there isn’t a top 5 team that would produce an academy player like him. 200,000K is daft money but that’s the state of the club atm, not many want the Glazers there but that’s what they’re working with. I’m delighted he’s there for another 4 yrs, he’s got the wage now it’s upto him to start earning it, I believe he will.
@Ich bin brendan: ok fair enough, you have your opinion on the matter and people that actually know a bit about football have there’s. Let’s be honest here, I doesn’t matter that your opinion is obviously that of a delusional fan that can’t look at things without your fan glasses on but that’s ok,, we will leave it there and I’ll let you get back to your colouring book and crayons, there’s a good boy,, don’t stay up to late… :) validate myself, ha ha ha ha ha..
@Devilsavocado: “that actually know a bit about football” you have me stumped, you’ve trouble validating your opinionated drivel. “Ha ha ha” like I said before, G!mp
He’s got to start delivering on his promise . A lot of cash for a man still not scoring regularly but he does have the potential to be an absolute world class player I just hope he does start getting 30 odd goals a season .
On his debut he’s scored 2 in the EPL, same in his Europa, 1 Champions league and on his derby debut. Also turned the best rb in the country inside out to score against their biggest rivals, with the golden glove winner in goal!
@Ich bin brendan: can throw in his debut in the EFL & FA Cup as well. So every cup comp available to him. Calling him over rated is being bias, he’s proven he’s capable, needs consistency with age.
Reminds me of Ian Rush
His nose is offside
Even as a man utd fan, I think he doesn’t deserve this, prove your worth then get the money, he didn’t prove anything last season to deserve half this money.