Ronnie O'Sullivan has the cue ball on a string at the moment and is closing in on a century to seal a commanding win.

In go all the colours. That's two centuries in three fames and the joint most emphatic first-round win of any player on the board.

Stephen Hendry
Seven-time world champion on BBC Two

One of the things I admire about Ronnie is that he ruins his opponents the way he is supposed to.

He rocks up and takes his first-round opponents apart. I love it.

He Guoqiang misses a mid-range blue and there's a red right over the middle bag. Ronnie O'Sullivan has an easy opener and a chance to potentially put this match to bed.

He quickly gets up to 50 and this is almost all over.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at the Crucible

For a while, the press room was getting very excited that a maximum was on the cards.

Ronnie O'Sullivan got to nine reds and eight blacks, but then opted for blue, although he still made a superb frame-winning break.

Mark Allen's 147 last year made him only the 11th player to make a 147 at the Crucible, O'Sullivan is on that list

Allen's maximum in 2025 was the 15th at the venue in the tournament's history and the first since Mark Selby's clearance in the 2023 final.

Steve Davis
Six-time world champion on BBC Two

He is a genius. He could play with a broomstick and play pretty well.

He still has the best positional brain out there. He quickly identifies the right shot and gives himself the chance to clear the table every time he comes to it. That's why he still has a chance to win the world title at the age of 50.

After knocking in nine reds and eight blacks, Ronnie O'Sullivan takes the blue.

No maximum incoming, although a century break does arrive. The seven-time world champion is one frame away from the next round.

Ronnie O'Sullivan knocks in a long straight red and follows it with a black. He's now at five reds and five blacks. Could a 147 maximum break be on the cards?

One red is tucked up on the left cushion.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at the Crucible

Image source, Getty Images

Hossein Vafaei said he "is fighting to make Iranians proud" as he prepares to begin his campaign.

He said it had been extremely difficult to focus on the sport with the ongoing conflict in his home country, which began at the end of February.

"It's been very hard, very, very hard. My family are safe," said Vafaei. "I'm fighting as well for my country, for my family and I'm trying my best and will give it my all.

"If I do well, if they can see me - of course some of them can see me - it will be a proud moment.

He said news from back home meant in recent months he was often not focused on snooker.

"You get a bad text in the day and you can't focus on your job. How can I focus?" said Vafaei.

"No-one knows how tough it is but hopefully it will be over soon, then the safety comes back to my country."

Read more about Vafaei here.

After a slightly underwhelming start, He Guoqiang catches a safety way too thick and present Ronnie O'Sullivan with an absolute gift to get going.

'The Rocket' responds with a 62 to take the frame with former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Scholes watching on.

Steven Hallworth
Snooker commentator on BBC TV

Talk about hitting the ground running, this has been a magnificent start from Si Jiahui.

Si Jiahui could not have asked for a better start to this match.

The 23-year-old built a century break to take the opening frame 100-0 in nine minutes.

World number 32 Hossein Vafaei had one single shot and could do nothing but watch on from his chair.

John Parrott
1991 world champion on BBC Two

Ronnie is actually playing with a different cue today. He likes the tip on this one. If he gets through he is going to swap back and put a new tip on that one.

Steve Davis
Six-time world champion on BBC Two

Ronnie is still the only player who can opt out of so many tournaments and dial himself in for particular events.

You would not put it past him to pull another rabbit out of the hat even though it is getting harder for him.

The acid test will be when someone starts to play really well against Ronnie.

In the penultimate match of the first round, Si Jiahui of China takes on Iran's Hossein Vafaei.

World number 15 Si reached the semi-finals in 2023, but the 23-year-old is looking for his first career ranking title.

Vafaei, 32, beat Chinese practice partner Gao Yang 10-4 in the final round of qualifying last week to secure a place at the Crucible for a fifth successive season.

The world number 32 reached the last 16 of the World Championship in 2023 and 2025.

World number one Judd Trump awaits the winner of this one.

Ken Doherty
1997 world champion on BBC Two

Ronnie pulled off some wonderful long pots [in the first session] which has been his Achilles heel over the last couple of seasons. He has not been up there with the best in the world in that department but that was tidied up a lot.

He wanted to get the job done early and was right on it.

Ronnie O'Sullivan dominated the opening session of this match on Tuesday.

Image source, BBC Sport

Ronnie O'Sullivan heads into the concluding session of his first-round match with He Guoqiang with a commanding 7-2 lead.

O'Sullivan, 50, is chasing a record eighth world title in the modern era and it would be a huge surprise if he was not to advance to a meeting against fellow 'Class of 92' great John Higgins.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at the Crucible

Four-time winner Mark Selby only needs three more frames to move into the last 16 of he World Championship after he dominated the opening session against Wales' Jak Jones.

Selby, 42, has lost in round one at the Crucible in both the past two years, but stormed into a 6-0 lead over the 2024 runner-up, helped by breaks of 67 and 50.

Jones took a tight seventh frame, before Selby instantly regained his six-frame advantage thanks to a break of 78, although Jones ended well with a 90 break in the final frame of the session.

Selby leads 7-2 and their match will be played to a finish in the evening session, which begins at 19:00 BST.

Seventh seed Selby will aim to continue a remarkable run of results for the seeded players, with all 12 to have finished their matches to have won.

The World Championship has been played at the Crucible in Sheffield since 1977 but never before have all 16 seeded players advanced into the second phase.

Fifteen, set in 1983 and then matched in 1993, is the current record and if Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Si Jiahui and Neil Robertson all gain victories then all 16 of the qualifiers would have been eliminated in round one.

Not long now until the action gets back under way. You can stay across it all on BBC Two.

Image source, BBC Sport

Jak Jones is letting his cue arm go in the last frame of this session and is playing beautifully.

Where was this earlier?

The Welshman gets a huge slice of luck on 51 with a red that hits both knuckles of the left middle before wandering into the top right corner. It allows him to go on to make 90 before missing a black to the corner.

Has Jones given himself a route back into this match? He'll still be a long way back heading into this evening's concluding session.

Image source, BBC Sport