Ronnie O'Sullivan reaches round two of the World Snooker Championship for a record thirtieth time

Seven-times world champion O’Sullivan comfortably dispatched Crucible debutant He to set up a blockbuster round two clash with four-time world champion and fellow ‘Class of 92’ graduate, John Higgins.

Making only his second competitive outing on UK soil this season, this was O’Sullivan’s record-extending 34th Crucible appearance; all of those coming consecutively since his debut in 1993 during his rookie season as professional.

The 50-year-old faced a banana skin in world number 47 He from China who won two qualifying matches at the English Institute of Sport earlier this month to book his Crucible bow.

In only his third season on the professional snooker circuit, He was named as the World Snooker Tour ‘Rookie of the Year’ two years ago, and had defeated O’Sullivan in their first two top-flight meetings, albeit under very different circumstances to that of the Crucible.

His first pro tour engagement since reaching the final of last month’s World Open in Yushan - a run that featured a world record break of 153 - O'Sullivan got off to an ideal start as breaks of 72 and 97 helped him to a 2-0 lead.

The Englishman came from behind to take frame three on the final pink before a 113 put him 4-0 ahead going into the mid-session interval.

On resumption, O'Sullivan made it 5-0 with another outcome on the final pink, before 25-year-old He got on the scoreboard in frame six, and then doubled his tally courtesy of a 77 in the seventh.

But just as he was building some decent momentum, He's rhythm was disrupted when he missed early on in frame eight. A 52 aided O'Sullivan to 6-2 before a classy effort of 86 - almost entirely made from pinks - saw him re-establish a five-frame cushion.

Returning the next afternoon - using a different cue as he preferred the tip on it - O’Sullivan wasted little time in wrapping up proceedings, making a 62 en route to depositing frame 10, and then finishing in virtuoso style with back-to-back centuries of 113 and 100.

The 13th seed player to win from 13 completed round one matches so far at the 2026 World Snooker Championship, O’Sullivan tees up the mouth-watering prospect of an ‘El Classico’ between himself and Higgins which is scheduled to take place across Saturday night (19:00BST), Sunday night (19:00BST), and Monday afternoon (13:00BST). That contest will be a best-of-25 frames affair.

It will be their seventh meeting on snooker’s grandest stage - the current head-to-head count is 3-3. O’Sullivan won their last tie in the 2022 semi-finals - eventually going on to claim his seventh world crown. His first world title came 25 years ago when he defeated Higgins in the final.

O’Sullivan and Higgins have not met on the professional circuit in over two years - the former has won their last three encounters. However, they recently played in The John Virgo Trophy final - a non-professional event - at Goffs in Kildare, Ireland, with O’Sullivan winning 6-0 in the timed format competition.

It is a record-extending 30th time that O’Sullivan has made the last 16 of the World Snooker Championship. Only four times throughout his career has he failed to negotiate the first hurdle at the Crucible: 1993 to Alan McManus, 2000 to David Gray, 2003 to Marco Fu, 2019 to James Cahill.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 World Snooker Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.