Ronnie O’Sullivan pegged back by qualifier Pang Junxu in Sheffield

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s hopes of cruising into the second round of the World Snooker Championship hang in the balance after an impressive revival by Chinese qualifier Pang Junxu at the Crucible.

The seven-time champion looked set for the convincing victory he craved on the opening day after reeling off the first five frames of their best-of-19 match which will conclude on Saturday evening.

But Pang got on the board at the sixth time of asking with an impressive clearance of 133, and gave himself a flicker of hope after winning the last two frames of the session to reduce O’Sullivan’s lead to 6-3.

Cazoo World Snooker Championship 2023 – Day 1 – The Crucible
Ronnie O’Sullivan, right, had to withstand a fightback from opponent Pang Junxu, left (Richard Sellers/PA)

He looked set to face a tough challenge from Pang, who reached the final of the inaugural WST Classic last month and had also beaten O’Sullivan in their only previous meeting in last year’s low-key Championship League.

A nerveless 50 break in the opener seemed to under-score Pang’s potential but O’Sullivan clawed back to take it and in the process appeared to knock some of the wind out of his 23-year-old opponent.

Cazoo World Snooker Championship 2023 – Day 1 – The Crucible
O’Sullivan will conclude his first-round match on Saturday evening (Richard Sellers/PA)

O’Sullivan looked close to his clinical best when they returned, overturning Pang’s 56-point advantage to move 5-0 ahead, before Pang’s excellent century reduced the deficit.

Pang missed a number of chances in a lengthy seventh frame that O’Sullivan clinched on the colours, but looked thoroughly impressive as he dispatched the final two frames to raise hopes of at least making Saturday’s evening session a competitive one.

On the other table, former champion Stuart Bingham reeled off five frames in a row to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 6-3 lead over David Gilbert, in a match that is set to resume on Sunday.

Cazoo World Snooker Championship 2023 – Day 1 – The Crucible
Neil Robertson built a 6-3 overnight lead against Wu Yize (Richard Sellers/PA)

The Australian, who has flattered to deceive at the Crucible since his solitary title win in 2010, was in red-hot form as breaks of 138 and 96 swept him into a 3-0 lead.

Wu responded with a break of 82 and after Robertson took the next, the 19-year-old rose to the occasion with consecutive breaks of 107 to narrow the deficit to a single frame. Breaks of 64 and 80 restored Robertson’s three-frame lead to conclude a high-quality session.

Belgium’s Luca Brecel also holds a 6-3 overnight lead against Ricky Walden after racking up five half-centuries against the 2013 semi-finalist.

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