DON DEAL: £40,000 is up for grabs in this year’s premier competition for a 147 as……..

Wilson and Allen move forward as O’Sullivan leads the session.

As he dominated the opening session against Welsh qualifier Jackson Page, Ronnie O’Sullivan got off to a great start in his quest for a record-breaking ninth world title. With an overwhelming 8-1 advantage over Page, the world number 42, who is 22 years old, O’Sullivan, 48, is hoping to avoid matching Stephen Hendry’s seven Crucible victories. On Thursday afternoon, when the match continues, O’Sullivan will only need to win two frames thanks to breaks of 54, 56, 81, 122, 66, and 53. Page recorded a break of 142, which is tied for the highest in the competition thus far, but he only managed 27 points or less in seven out of the nine frames.

Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson triumphed over Robbie Williams and Dominic Dale, respectively, in other matches. In a thrilling match, Jack Lisowski of England overcame Ding Junhui of China, the 2016 runner-up, 10-9, to advance to the second round and face 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham. The seventh seed After Ding lost 10-8 to Ryan Day in the evening session, 15th seed Barry Hawkins became the eighth player to be eliminated.

Eight of the top 16 have only lost at the first hurdle four times, after 1980, 1992, and 2012. There has never been a year at the Crucible where nine seeds have lost in the first round. Day, who hasn’t made it to the round of 16 since 2014, will face O’Sullivan if he wins over Page on Thursday as anticipated.

In front of his family, Wilson is deprived of making 147 points.

Shot-maker Kyren WilsonPictures Source: PA Media image caption,Ronie O’Sullivan defeated Kyren Wilson 18–8 in the 2020 World Championship match Dominic Dale of Wales was destroyed 10-1 in the first round by 2020 runner-up Wilson, who was denied a second maximum 147 break at the Crucible. Attempting to achieve the 15th maximum at the Sheffield site since it began hosting the championship in 1977, Wilson nailed 11 reds and 11 blacks in the final frame. However, his break ended at 88 when he missed a red.

Had he hit a 147, it would have been his second in as many years at the Crucible, having previously hit one in a 10-5 victory over Ryan Day in the opening round in 2023. This year’s main draw event has a £40,000 prize pool for a 147; if many players reach the maximum, the money will be split. Not only that, but Noppon Saengkham of Thailand will also receive a share of £15,000 for the best break of the entire event. Saengkham defeated Andy Hicks in the third qualifying round with a score of 147.

Wilson, the 12th seed, said of the maximum opportunity on BBC Two: “You don’t frequently find yourself in that situation where you can just take a free shot at it. “My wife and I brought up our family. They saw my final 147 in this event at school the previous year, so I figured it would be good to try doing one for them in person. “Last year I was in position until the last two reds – but this one, I was constantly fighting, and every time a ball went in the crowd got more excited which got the adrenaline going, and I felt more under pressure to try to do it for the kids live.”

If Wilson could continue on this path, he has a good chance of winning the world title. Wilson will next take on Joe O’Connor, Selby’s conqueror. He continued: “If I play like that it will take some performance in any round for any player to stop me.”

Proud of “one of my best wins,” Lisowski.

The 17th-ranked player in the world, Lisowski, almost missed automatic qualification and had to advance through two matches to the Crucible. “I always thought it was going to be a really close game, everyone was saying it would be,” the man said to BBC Two. I’m in really excellent form, and you always have a chance when you’re confident in your cueing. “Everything went in the middle of the pocket, and all I wanted was a chance in the final frame. Probably one of my greatest victories ever.

With a 7-2 lead after the first session, Allen, who is ranked third, is hoping to become just the third player from Northern Ireland to win a world championship, following Dennis Taylor and Alex Higgins. Four of the first six frames were won by Robbie Williams, but Allen’s 114 clearance to win 10–6 sealed the victory. “Well done,” Allen declared. “Though it could have been much worse, it also could have been much better. Although I’m not as confident as I would like to be about my form, I am confident that I’m winning a lot of matches.

Higgins will ‘evaluate’ snooker future after tournament

John Higgins led Wales’ Jamie Jones, who had upset 2010 world champion Neil Robertson in the last qualifying round, 5–4 in the evening session on Wednesday. After the competition, the 48-year-old Scot, a four-time winner, intends to “evaluate” his future in the sport. “I’ve had a great career here, won it multiple times, and I’m just going to give it my all for this season and see what happens,” Higgins stated to BBC Sport.

I still enjoy playing the game, and being in a place like this inspires me. However, this is only a little portion of my life; you have other things going on with your family and life is not just snooker.” After Higgins overcame a 3-1 deficit to win four straight games, Jones broke for 118 in the opening frame, and the Welshman won the final frame on Wednesday.