Ronnie O’Sullivan roars back against Gilbert at Crucible after early struggles

Ronnie O’Sullivan made a sluggish start on the opening day of the World Snooker Championship but reeled off six frames in row to take a 6-3 lead into Sunday’s concluding session.

O’Sullivan, seeking to match Stephen Hendry’s record of seven Crucible titles, lost the first three frames against the qualifier David Gilbert, who posted breaks of 56 and 94 as he got off to a flying start. But the 46-year-old responded in typical fashion with a flawless break of 122 to reduce the arrears to 3-1 before the mid-session interval and proceeded to reel off five more frames in succession.

It was a stunning response from the six-time champion, who added another century in the seventh frame of the match as the former semi-finalist Gilbert fell away badly.

Desperate to salvage an overnight advantage, Gilbert missed a simple black off its spot in the eighth frame to fall 5-3 behind, and left a red dangling over the corner pocket in the next to gift O’Sullivan his three‑frame lead.

Mark Selby also shrugged off a slow start to establish a 6-3 lead over the qualifier Jamie Jones in the opening session. The defending champion looked far from comfortable in the opening exchanges of the match, which marked his first appearance at the Crucible since revealing he was struggling with his mental health. Despite compiling two centuries before Saturday night’s concluding session, Selby was some way from his best, and was reliant on a series of missed opportunities from the Welshman in order to chisel an early advantage.

Selby, 38, had come into the tournament having withdrawn from the previous two events in Turkey and Gibraltar, and admitted his participation in Sheffield had been far from certain.

On the other table, the UK champion, Zhao Xintong,