- Seven-time world champion surges through with 13-2 win
- Players put previous perceived disrespect behind them
Ronnie O’Sullivan turned his so-called Crucible grudge match against Hossein Vafaei into a demolition job as he won their second-round match at the world championship 13-2 with a session to spare. O’Sullivan reeled off six consecutive breaks of 50 or more, including his 1,200th and 1,201st career centuries, as he won all seven frames of their match on Saturday afternoon.
O’Sullivan made a point of embracing his opponent, who had issued some extraordinary pre-match barbs and then encountered a wave of criticism for playing a deliberately rash break-off shot in the second frame on Friday. That wild start to the second frame set it up on a plate for O’Sullivan, giving him an early advantage he mercilessly exploited as he surged into a quarter-final meeting with Luca Brecel and earned a day off.
