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Ronnie O’Sullivan has taken a giant step towards a mouth-watering second round match against fellow 50-year-old John Higgins with a highly impressive start to his quest for an eighth world snooker title.

Despite initially heading for the wrong table on his return to the Crucible, O’Sullivan looked instantly back at home following a mixed season spent largely outside of England that has contained recent hints of a return to form.

O’Sullivan raced to a 5-0 lead before sharing the final four frames of the opening session of his first round match against China’s He Guoqiang to lead 7-2 ahead of the conclusion on Wednesday afternoon. 

Although O’Sullivan did reach the semi-final last year, he looked bereft of confidence with what was a new cue before being comprehensively outplayed by the eventual winner Zhao Xintong.

Despite another year and a few more grey hairs, it was instantly obvious that O’Sullivan arrives in Sheffield this year rather happier with both his form and chances of moving clear of Stephen Hendry to become the only eight-times world champion in the modern era.

It helped that Guoqiang missed a series of early chances in what was a wide open match, but O’Sullivan’s usual break building fluency was crucially also matched by some well struck long pots and clearances when the balls were not always invitingly placed. 

The early burst of frames included breaks of  72, 97 and 113 before Guoqiang’s brief fightback was halted by further runs of 52 and 86.

Should O’Sullivan complete the expected victory, the second round will be a rerun of the final against Higgins exactly 25 years ago, which he won 18-14 to win his first world title.

Higgins and Mark Williams, the third 50-plus member of the Class ‘92, are respectively going for their fifth and fourth world title.

Although O’Sullivan has now slipped furthest down the rankings, that is largely explained by his much more limited tournament schedule. There have been encouraging signs in recent months, however, with O’Sullivan following up his 153 total clearance in the International Open in China with a resounding victory against Higgins in the final of the invitational John Virgo Trophy in Ireland last week.