Ronnie O’Sullivan and Luca Brecel seal quarter-final places with quick-fire wins

Ronnie O’Sullivan and Luca Brecel wrapped up one of the quickest Crucible sessions in history as they took just over a quarter of an hour to seal their respective places in the World Snooker Championship quarter-finals.

The two former winners returned on Monday evening, each requiring a single frame to complete wins over Pang Junxu and Ding Junhui respectively.

Brecel won the sprint to the dressing room as he summoned a break of 71 to see off the 2016 finalist 13-4, and he was swiftly followed by O’Sullivan, who rifled in a break of 95 to complete his victory over Pang by the same score.

THE ROCKET MARCHES INTO THE QUARTER-FINAL!

Ronnie O'Sullivan makes 95 to win in quick-time in Sheffield - he beats Pang Junxu 13-4.

A mouthwatering encounter with Si Jiahui is to follow in the last eight.#HaloWorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/Qc2prSVPyr

— WST (@WeAreWST) April 28, 2025

Having barely been challenged to get out of second gear by his outclassed opponent, O’Sullivan, who came to Sheffield having not played a competitive match since January, remained predictably downbeat about his performance.

Rating his form as “probably two out of 10”, O’Sullivan, who will face another Chinese opponent, Si Jiahui, in the last eight, added: “I wasn’t bothered about getting it over quickly – I need all the table time I can get.

“I think I’ve dragged them (my opponents) down to a poorer level. I think they expected me to play better and were maybe shocked that I didn’t, but I don’t think Si will fall into that trap, and that’s what makes him dangerous.”

Si, a shock semi-finalist on his Crucible debut two years ago, survived a late scare to see off Ben Woollaston 13-10 and confirm his place in the last eight.

O’Sullivan had done the damage in