- Defending champion earns tough 10-7 win in first round
- Ronnie O’Sullivan leads Dave Gilbert 6-3 in Sheffield
The defending champion, Mark Selby, nudged into the second round of the World Championship despite looking far from his best in a 10-7 win over Jamie Jones. Selby compiled three centuries but struggled for consistency in a match that marked his first appearance at the Crucible since revealing he was struggling with his mental health.
Selby had sat out recent tournaments in Gibraltar and Turkey and it was perhaps inevitable he would take time to settle. But he had Jones to thank for missing a number of chances to make the match much tighter. Turning a 6-3 advantage after the morning session into an 8-3 lead on their resumption in the evening, Selby proceeded to toil as Jones clawed his way back into contention at 8-6.
