World Snooker Championship: Ronnie O’Sullivan wraps up win over Jackson Page to reach round two at the Crucible

Ronnie O’Sullivan breezed into the second round of the World Championship after completing a comprehensive 10-1 win over Jackson Page.

O’Sullivan missed out on becoming the third person to secure a whitewash at the Crucible – following John Parrott’s win over Edide Charlton in 1992 and Shaun Murphy’s demolition of Luo Honghao in 2019 – but he got the job done in impressive fashion to set up a clash with Ryan Day.

Page had chances – and did light up the Crucible with a dazzling 142 break – but failed to take enough of them as he lacked control of the cue ball.

O’Sullivan was not at his sizzling best but controlled the table and took his opportunities when presented with them.

Page won the first mini-battle of the second session by drawing a safety error from O’Sullivan but, as in the first session, the Welshman lost the cue ball after a break of 16.

To compound his woes, Page’s safety let O’Sullivan in, and The Rocket picked off a break of 79 to move within one frame of a 28th appearance in the last 16 of the World Championship.

Page got another chance in the 11th frame after a rare tactical error from O’Sullivan, but he lost position and also appeared to lose focus as he flicked a red with his cue in bizarre fashion.

O’Sullivan continued his circumspect approach as after potting a red he tied the cue ball up behind the green rather than take on a tough pot.

A failure to develop a red drew a look of disgust from O’Sullivan, suggesting his focus was sharp even with the winning line in sight.

For all his trophies and break-building abilities, O’Sullivan’s safety play is perhaps not talked about as much as it should be.

He produced a glorious shot to put Page in trouble and drew an error. The table was not easy with reds on cushions but O’Sullivan solved the puzzle and a break of 38 wrapped up the win before the mid-session interval had even arrived.