Ronnie is through to the second round at the 2026 World Snooker Championship and he will face John Higgins next.

Here is the report shared by WST:

O’Sullivan Sets Up Higgins Clash

Making a record-extending 34th consecutive appearance at the Crucible, Ronnie O’Sullivan fired three centuries in a 10-2 thrashing of He Guoqiang to earn a blockbuster tie with John Higgins in the second round of the Halo World Championship.

O’Sullivan had played in just nine tournaments this season before arriving in Sheffield so may lack the match sharpness of some of his rivals, but on the evidence  of this emphatic victory over China’s He, his game is ready for a tilt at a record eighth Crucible crown. Snooker’s all-time greatest player lifted the trophy in 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020 and 2022 and admits his only remaining ambition is to go one ahead of Stephen Hendry’s tally of seven. 

His next test will be a fascinating clash with fellow ‘Class of ’92’ member Higgins, over 25 frames on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It will be a seventh match at the Crucible between the pair, equalling the record for the most frequent meetings at the Theatre of Dreams, first set by Steve Davis and Terry Griffiths who played on seven occasions, and matched by Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White. Higgins and O’Sullivan first went head to head here in 1996 as 20-year-olds, and will now meet again having both turned 50.

O’Sullivan v Higgins at the Crucible

2022 Semi-final – O’Sullivan 17-11 Higgins

2011 Quarter-final – Higgins 13-10 O’Sullivan

2007 Quarter-final – Higgins 13-9 O’Sullivan

2001 Final – O’Sullivan 18-14 Higgins

1998 Semi-final – Higgins 17-9 O’Sullivan

1996 Quarter-final – O’Sullivan 13-12 Higgins

O’Sullivan took a 7-2 lead against debutant He in Tuesday’s opening session, making breaks of 72, 97, 113, 52 and 86. Today’s concluding session, which had former England and Manchester United footballer Paul Scholes among the crowd, lasted just 35 minutes as world number 12 O’Sullivan added runs of 62, 113 and 100, taking his overall tally of centuries at the Crucible to 217.

He is the 13th seed into the second round, and if Mark Selby, Si Jiahui and Neil Robertson all follow him, it will be the first time in Crucible history that all 16 seeds have beaten the qualifiers.

Here are the scores and stats for the match:

And some images shared on social media

Despite not looking at his very best, Ronnie scored heavily in the balls as the match stats show. The opening match is never easy for the seeds, so it’s a good result.

I’m not particularly thrilled about round 2 though because John is someone who has often caused Ronnie serious problems and, if anything, Ronnie tends to give him a bit too much respect.