Ronnie O’Sullivan bounces back from slow start to lead David Gilbert at Crucible

Ronnie O’Sullivan swatted aside an early scare to establish a 6-3 lead over David Gilbert in the opening session of their World Snooker Championship clash at the Crucible.

O’Sullivan, seeking to match Stephen Hendry’s modern record of seven world crowns, lost the first three frames to the 2019 semi-finalist but responded with two centuries to move into a dominant position ahead of Sunday’s conclusion.

Gilbert was the toughest possible first-round draw for O’Sullivan, who warned on Friday of “carnage” among the seeds in the early stages of this year’s competition due to the quality of those who have come through qualifying.

And it looked like the 46-year-old could become the most prominent victim as breaks of 56 and 94 helped Gilbert ease into a 3-0 advantage, before a 122 by O’Sullivan set him back on track before the mid-session interval.

O’Sullivan stepped up the pace after the break and Gilbert began to wilt under the pressure, producing a series of errors which the favourite characteristically exploited.

When Gilbert left a red dangling over the pocket in the seventh frame, O’Sullivan responded with a 104 clearance to move in front for the first time, and a missed black off its spot in the next yielded another half-century and a 5-3 lead.

Any hopes Gilbert had of clawing back the overnight deficit ended with another missed red in the final frame of the session, O’Sullivan duly responding with a 54 which proved enough to take him four more frames from a place in the second round.

Earlier, Mark Selby also shrugged off a sluggish start to establish a 6-3 lead over qualifier Jamie Jones in a match scheduled to be played to a conclusion on Saturday evening.

The defending champion looked far from comfortable in the opening