Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Rocket races into World Snooker Championship second round with victory over Ali Carter

Seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan was in superb form as he beat Ali Carter in the first round of this year’s World Snooker Championship; O’Sullivan will play China’s Pang Junxu in the last 16 from Saturday afternoon

Ronnie O’Sullivan raced to a 10-4 victory over Ali Carter to reach the second round of the World Snooker Championship on his return to the sport.

O’Sullivan, who is going for a record-breaking eighth world title at the Crucible, has not played competitive snooker since snapping his cue ahead of The Masters in January, which he withdrew from.

He then pulled out of the Welsh Open, German Masters and World Grand Prix to “prioritise his health and wellbeing” but dominated against Carter in the second session of their highly-anticipated clash.

O’Sullivan held a slender 5-4 lead overnight but won five consecutive frames, including three centuries, to book a second-round spot against China’s Pang Junxu.

“I didn’t have any expectations, so there were no nerves going through the body. Coming here, I didn’t expect to perform well based on the last three or four years,” O’Sullivan told BBC Sport.

“I feel like I just wanted to make a bit of a game of it. I didn’t even have a tip that would last the whole tournament. Normally I get one two weeks before the tournament because it’s a long one.

“This one I thought ‘If I win a new match, great, if I win two, fantastic, if I win three and need a new tip, it’s a nice problem to have.’ That was my mindset coming into it.”

Carter had chances but careless mistakes meant it was a one-sided affair on Wednesday afternoon, as O’Sullivan showed signs of his best form.

Both players were far from their best in Tuesday’s first session but Carter kept himself in the match by stealing the last frame to only trail 5-4.

But, O’Sullivan punished several mistakes from Carter, including relatively simple missed blacks, and was stronger with his cue ball control.

The Rocket finished off the match in style with his 1,286th career century, adding to his two from earlier in the session.

Ronnie O’Sullivan was expected to have a tough test against Ali Carter

“The cueing side of it is a long-term thing. I’ve given myself two years. Sometimes it’s like looking in a needle in a haystack,” said O’Sullivan.

“I know what I need to do. I know what I went to get away from. It will be a lot of self-taught. I will be my own coach with the help of Steve Peters. I want to say a massive thank you to Steve.

“My head is OK for life but getting on a snooker table has been really hard. He’s helped me before I went out there yesterday. I’ve got some mental tools to work with out there for this tournament to keep things tight. I will always tinker, it’s just when to stop and let your instinct take over.

“I loved it out there. If I was struggling like I had been, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it.”

O’Sullivan: I want to play for as long as I can

O’Sullivan, who is snooker’s most successful player ever with 41 ranking titles, including 23 Triple Crowns, has not won a tournament this season.

The 49-year-old reached the semi-finals at the Xi’an Grand Prix, Shanghai Masters and Riyadh Season Championship in the early part of the 2024/25 campaign but has largely been far from his best before he stopped playing between January and March.

O’Sullivan went nearly the entire 2012/13 season without playing and came back to win the world title, so has a history of producing after long periods away from snooker.

Ronnie O’Sullivan is looking to break Stephen Hendry’s record of seven Crucible crowns

“I just think this game has a way of humbling you in so many ways,” he said.

“I’ve had it over the years where you might go a year or two years where your game is not there and there’s a lot of self-doubt that creeps in. This one is probably the hardest one of all to be fair.

“I want to play for as long as I can. If everything went great, I can probably get five or six years. If it doesn’t, I said I will still commit to two years and focus on playing and give myself every opportunity to try and finish with a nice feeling because the sport’s been good to me. I love the game. That’s the plan. “