Ronnie O’Sullivan v He Guoqiang live stream | World Snooker Championship first round preview
O’Sullivan and He go head-to-head
Ronnie O’Sullivan commences his latest quest for a record-breaking eighth World Championship title with a first round tie against debutant He Guoqiang at The Crucible.
The sport’s most decorated star returns to Sheffield in search of the final missing piece of the jigsaw in his illustrious career which has spanned four decades.
The Rocket is making only his second appearance in a ranking event on UK soil this season, the other being a first round exit at the UK Championship in York last December.
O’Sullivan, who is an ever-present at The Crucible since 1993, is making his 34th consecutive appearance and equalled Stephen Hendry’s record tally of seven world titles in 2022.
Since then, he suffered back-to-back quarter-final exits, before reaching the semi-finals last year – where he was dismantled 17-7 by eventual champion Zhao Xintong.
The 50-year-old has largely centred his ranking event appearances around events in Asia and Saudi Arabia this season, notably finishing runner-up in both the Saudi Arabia Masters and World Open.
He returns as the number 12 seed and is bidding to avoid a first exit in the opening round here since 2019, with a mouth-watering Last 16 tie against his old adversary John Higgins lying in wait.
Aiming to tear up the script and pull off a monumental upset is 25-year-old Guoqiang, one of a record 11 Chinese participants in this year’s World Championship.
He overcame Long Zehuang and Jack Lisowski in the qualifying rounds to clinch a dream debut on the sport’s greatest stage and is no stranger to defeating O’Sullivan, having done so in two of their three previous meetings.
His best run in a ranking event to date saw him reach the quarter-finals of the 2023 British Open and the Chinese cueist enters the competition as world number 47.
The match gets under way from 2.30pm on Tuesday April 21st for a total of nine frames, before resuming to a finish over the best of 19 from 2.30pm on Wednesday April 22nd.
How to watch Ronnie O’Sullivan v He Guoqiang live stream
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