There was nothing to separate Ronnie O’Sullivan and Zhao Xintong after the opening session of their World Championship semi-final at the Crucible, with the pair locked together at 4-4.
Zhao started and finished the brighter, winning the first two and final frame of the afternoon, with O’Sullivan dominating the middle-part of the session with a three-frame burst that was somewhere close to his best.
Following a rapturous introduction, the match started in bizarre fashion, O’Sullivan breaking off, only to watch the white hurtle round the table and go in-off in the green pocket.
What a start! 😅#HaloWorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/udIvUXW4fe
— WST (@WeAreWST) May 1, 2025
Zhao needed no warming up, immediately potting from distance, and quickly moving 2-0 ahead thanks to breaks to 60 and 62.
O’Sullivan soon clicked into gear himself, however, and within the blink of an eye, runs of 64, 73 and 60 had turned the match on its head and put the seven-time champion 3-2 in front.
Zhao ensured honours were even at the end of the afternoon by winning two of the final frames, finishing with a break of 86 to set things up perfectly ahead of tomorrow’s resumption.
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Trump holds early advantage
Judd Trump leads Mark Williams 5-3 after the opening session of their last-four encounter.
Having taken the first frame with a pinpoint run of 73, Williams will be frustrated to have lost a number of close, tactical frames that he might've fancied he would dominate.
The Welshman made a wonderful 116 in frame four, but Trump finished the stronger and fired in a century of his own to finish the night on a high and with a two-frame advantage.
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