Ronnie O'Sullivan thrashes Ali Carter to reach last 16 of the World Championship

Playing his first competitive snooker since early January, O'Sullivan looked better the longer the match went on, not dropping a single frame in Wednesday's second session and finishing with a couple of virtuoso centuries.

Resuming with a slender 5-4 overnight lead following a patchy opening session which Carter ended by winning the final two frames, O'Sullivan was in scintillating, ruthless form, suggesting his bid for a record eighth world title will be hard to derail.

Perhaps more exciting for snooker fans were his post-match comments, an apparently content O'Sullivan committing to snooker for at least the next couple of years.

'I want to play for as long as I can'

O'Sullivan told the BBC afterwards: "I didn't have no expectations, so there was really no nerves going through the body. Coming here I didn't expect to perform well based on the last three or four years.

"I want to play for as long as I can. If everything went great, I could probably get five to six years. If it doesn't, I said I will still commit to two years, just focus on playing and give myself every opportunity to try and finish on a nice feeling.

"Ali had his chances yesterday and on another day he would've taken them and maybe been 6-3 up. I was fortunate in that respect. I cued a lot better than I did yesterday. I loved being out there.

"I lost the buzz for the game. I've always loved the game, but you lose the buzz for the game when you're not able to play the shots that make the game how you enjoy playing the game."

If O'Sullivan was feeling any early nerves, they were soon settled when he dominated the opening frame of the day, a break of 59 enough to do the job.

From there, the Rocket had lift-off, and he quickly followed up with a rapid run of 117 to extend his lead to 7-4.

Carter finally had a good chance to get back into the match in the next frame, but a bad miss to centre opened the door for another O'Sullivan counter, which this time came in the form of a 74 clearance.

The fat lady was now clearing her throat and O'Sullivan was suddenly buzzing round the table, all the grace and touch of old on show as he finished off with twin tons, a break of 123 followed by a clearance of 131 to put the seal on a quite majestic performance.

‘My game is the best it has ever been’

There was fighting talk from 2005 champion Shaun Murphy who brushed aside Crucible debutant Daniel Wells with ease.

Wells managed three centuries in the match, but Murphy made three himself and a series of other big breaks in a bloodless display.

"I have come here in the best shape I have ever been in,” Murphy beamed after his 10-4 victory. “My game is the best it has ever been and I'm sharp. I'm ready. If I am allowed to play and get chances, I will be a handful for anyone.

"The hunger and desire never goes away, but sometimes in life you can lose your way. Champions don't think like everyone else, but for a little while I started thinking like everyone else.

“I had forgotten what it was like to win the majors, I felt like a bit of a draw filler. Winning the Masters has totally changed that. I believe again, and I think that makes me dangerous.”

Pang pounces for first Crucible win

Pang Junxu claimed his first ever win at the Crucible with a fine 10-7 triumph over compatriot Zhang Anda.

For the most part, the match was a real war of attrition, but Pang found another gear after falling 7-5 behind, producing breaks of 58, 102, 55 and 65 to reel off five frames on the spin and earn himself a place in the last 16.

2023 champion Luca Brecel fought back from 5-1 down to trail Ryan Day 5-4 after the first session of their match.

Brecel initially looked out of sorts, but finished with breaks of 104, 54 and 86 to end the session winning the final three frames.

Mark Selby leads Ben Woollaston 5-4.

Trump serves timely reminder as Ronnie shortens

On a day when the headlines were dominated by Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump served a timely reminder of his title credentials.

Resuming with a 6-3 lead over Zhou Yuelong, Trump fairly raced over the winning line, stopping the clock just after 9pm for his 10-4 romp.

Trump notched five centuries in the match, and four in the five frames played in Wednesday's evening session, including three in a row and then a sublime break of exactly 100 to finish.

Trump remains favourite in the outright market, available to back at 3.9 on the Betfair Exchange at the time of writing. O'Sullivan has shortened dramatically into 5.5.

Related snooker links

• Richard Mann's World Championship outright preview
• World Championship: Top 16 player profiles
• Where are the young snooker players
• Perfect Snooker Player
• Snooker's GOAT: O'Sullivan by the numbers
• O'Sullivan's Triple Crown timeline
• Watch all the Crucible 147 breaks
• Should the worlds stay at the Crucible?
• History of 147 breaks
• Ronnie O'Sullivan's 147 breaks
• O'Sullivan: One of a kind
• History of snooker's number ones
• Best players never to win a world title
• Crucible memories: Ronnie's finest hour
• Crucible memories: Higgins denies Trump
• Crucible memories: White a People's Champion
• Crucible memories: Johnson stuns Davis
• Crucible memories: Foulds' dream debut