Ronnie O’Sullivan on brink of last eight after dominating Pang Junxu

Ronnie O’Sullivan eased to the brink of a record-extending 23rd World Snooker Championship quarter-final after making short work of opponent Pang Junxu in the second session of their second-round match at the Crucible.

O’Sullivan was seldom required to reach top gear as he turned a 6-2 overnight lead into a 12-4 advantage, which leaves him requiring just one more frame on Monday evening to confirm his return to the last eight.

Playing in his first tournament since January, the seven-time champion often looked far from happy with his form, but still fired back-to-back centuries en route to establishing a seemingly unassailable lead over his outclassed 25-year-old opponent.

Pang had briefly stirred, winning the first two frames upon the resumption and fleetingly threatening to launch a comeback to match his recovery in their first-round meeting in 2023, when he hit back from 9-4 down to win three frames in a row.

But frequent errors would cost the Chinese player any chance of making any further impression, and O’Sullivan swiftly restored his four-frame advantage with successive half-centuries to go in 8-4 in front at the mid-session interval.

Looking increasingly ill at ease, Pang failed to muster a point in the next two frames, as back-to-back hundreds took O’Sullivan further clear, and taking the next two made Monday’s final session a formality.

100 CENTURIES IN A SEASON