O’Sullivan fails to capitalise
There were three troubling reds over by the right hand cushion and O’Sullivan believes he’s dislodged one enough to slice it in.
The break ends with O’Sullivan leading by 20 points. He pots a red and the pink with two sweet shots to get the cueball into favourable position and he can play off the black for now.
Mike Jones21 April 2026 16:29
He Guoqiang is struggling. His average break so far in this match is 15.5 and in this sixth frame he’s had three or four chances to put O’Sullivan away.
He’s taken none of them.
O’Sullivan himself has missed a couple of testing shots, and one simple one on the black, but each time he errs He lets him off the hook.
At 5-13, He misses a red and brings O’Sullivan back to the table. The reds are spread but he has a few easier ones to pick off first.
How big will this break be?
Mike Jones21 April 2026 16:26
O’Sullivan hopes to take control after the miss from He but leaves the final red hanging over the cushion.
That allows his opponent back on the table and He closes the gap to within one point.
The brown is left near the right hand cushion and, after potting the green, he’s left the cueball quite close.
But, a smooth and aggressive pot sees him rattle the brown into the left middle and that seemingly sets up the rest of the frame.
But, he attack the blue too forcefully and it bounces around the middle left pocket and doesn’t drop!
O’Sullivan makes him pay by quickly knocking in the blue and pink. He leads by five now.
Mike Jones21 April 2026 16:14
Previously He’s biggest break was 25. He eclipses that in this fifth frame and smoothly closes the deficit to O’Sullivan’s 42.
A slight positional error on the blue means he needs to use the rest to keep his break going and he nurses the next red into the bottom right pocket. The black quickly follows to take He past O’Sullivan’s score but he unfortunately doesn’t leave a simplest of shots for the red.
He needs to swerve past a closer ball and as such misses the pocket. He leads 42-44 in this frame.
Mike Jones21 April 2026 16:09
After the mid-session interval Ronnie O’Sullivan and He Guoqiang are back out for the fifth frame.
O’Sullivan is first on the board and rattles of a fine break of 42 before missing a red to the bottom left pocket.
He cannons it off the cushion and opens the door for He to get back into this match.
Mike Jones21 April 2026 16:05
The new approach making Neil Robertson ‘more confident than ever’
O’Sullivan and He have returned to the arena. In the meantime, some afternoon reading:
Lawrence Ostlere21 April 2026 16:04
Wu Yize through to second round
Wu Yize makes short work of Lei Peifan, winning 10-2, the most one-sided result so far in the first round.
Wu Yize was too good for Lei Peifan (Getty)
Lawrence Ostlere21 April 2026 15:58
O’Sullivan wins the fourth frame!
A smooth century break by The Rocket, and that is about as dominant a performance as we’ve seen so far at this year’s World Championship. He leads by four at the mid-session interval.
Lawrence Ostlere21 April 2026 15:41
O’Sullivan wins the third frame!
A scrappy frame, this one, as He makes a couple more crucial errors to allow O’Sullivan in, including a bizarre push shot. The seven-time champion makes no mistake, sweeping up the colours with a brilliant break in which he moved the pink cleverly off the side cushion en route from green to brown.
Lawrence Ostlere21 April 2026 15:27
Wu on the verge of second round
On the other side of the arena, China’s Wu Yize is now only one frame away from victory, leading his compatriot Lei Peifan 9-2.
Lawrence Ostlere21 April 2026 15:10