World Snooker Championship 2016 Results: Monday's Scores and Updated Schedule
Ronnie O'Sullivan made a winning start to his 2016 World Championship campaign, as he beat an impressive David Gilbert 10-7 in the first round on Monday.
Against a different opponent, Gilbert could have advanced, but O'Sullivan pounced on his fellow Englishman's few mistakes to convert his 6-3 lead from Sunday into a three-frame victory.
Following the encounter, O'Sullivan refused to speak to the media and is set to be disciplined as a result, per PA Sport:
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Meanwhile, four-time world champion John Higgins got his title bid under way against Welshman Ryan Day and took a commanding 7-2 lead in Monday's opening session. 2014 champion Mark Selby also began his pursuit on the title brightly with a 7-2 lead over Robert Milkins, while Mark Williams sealed his place in the last-16 with a dominant 10-4 win over Graeme Dott.
In the day's late action, Sam Baird confirmed his passage into the next stage with a 10-7 victory over Michael White and Ricky Walden produced a stunning comeback to down Robbie Williams 10-8.
Here are the results from the morning's action along with the schedule for the rest of the day.
| Morning Session (10 a.m. BST) | ||
| Ronnie O’Sullivan | 10-7 | David Gilbert |
| John Higgins | 7-2 | Ryan Day |
| Afternoon Session (2:30 p.m. BST) | ||
| Mark Williams | 10-4 | Graeme Dott |
| Mark Selby | 7-2 | Robert Milkins |
| Evening Session (7 p.m. BST) | ||
| Ricky Walden | 10-8 | Robbie Williams |
| Michael White | 7-10 | Sam Baird |
Morning Recap
The Rocket came into Monday's morning session with a 6-3 lead, but it was immediately cut to two frames, as Gilbert won the opener.
The 34-year-old took advantage of some loose safety shots from the five-time world champion and produced visits of 60 and 62 to seal the first frame of the day.
O'Sullivan re-established his three-frame advantage straight away and then moved 8-4 ahead, as he posted a break of 101.
Having got into the balls with a fantastic long red, O'Sullivan showed some of his best form to move within two frames of victory.
Gilbert, though, cut the lead to three frames again before the mid-session interval, as he took advantage of a surprising missed black from the Rocket.
O'Sullivan then had some bad luck in the 14th frame, as he potted the white ball while attempting to open up the reds with a cannon off the blue.
Gilbert then produced an excellent break of 61 to make it 8-6, per World Snooker:
The nerves began to show for the world No. 22 in the 15th frame, as he missed a couple of long reds, O'Sullivan taking the third of his chances and producing a break of 51 to move within one of victory.
Gilbert showed great composure to move to 9-7 with a visit of 71, but O'Sullivan finally saw out the match in the 17th frame with a 72 break.
Higgins established his convincing lead over Day by winning all five frames after the mid-session interval.
The Scotsman started in brilliant fashion, as he knocked in a 105 break in the first frame and followed it up with a 79 visit to go 2-0 ahead.
Day then did well to tie up the match after four frames, firing a 73 break in the third before prevailing in an intriguing safety battle to win the fourth.
However, Day had little further joy, as Higgins produced some near-perfect snooker to move within three frames of victory.
He got another century on the board in the fifth frame, as he put together a break of 100 to move 3-2 ahead before taking a cagey sixth stanza as well.
The Wizard was on the back foot while Day established a convincing lead in the seventh, but Higgins got back into the balls with an impressive long red and pinched the frame to move to 5-2.
A visit of 77 moved Higgins four clear, and a third century of the match—he passed the 100 mark with a stunning cut black—saw him finish the morning session 7-2 in front.
Afternoon Recap
Two-time winner Mark Williams sealed his place in the last-16 of the tournament for the first time since 2012 with a convincing 10-4 victory over Graeme Dott.
Leading 7-2 overnight following some stunning break building in Sunday’s action, the Welshman added two frames to his substantial lead with runs of 55 and 102.
Despite Dott marking the better statistics up to the penultimate frame, Williams eased through in style, per Matt from ProSnookerBlog:
The 2000 and 2003 champion then dropped the next two frames to 2006 winner Dott after breaks of 54 and 88. However, Williams was not to be denied on his quest for a place in the next round as he clinched victory at the first attempt following the interval. Per World Snooker, Williams said:
"“I played very well. I made good breaks, my safety was good, I’ve kept him under pressure and stayed on top of him for the whole match.
“I’ve been working hard lately and I’ve started wining frames in one visit, which has been unlike me over the last few years. I’m just looking forward to the next game now, it is nice to still be in, usually I’d be in the car on the way home by now."
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In the afternoon’s other action, World No. 1 Mark Selby asserted his dominance to race into a 7-2 lead over Robert Milkins. The ‘Jester from Leicester’ found himself 2-1 down in the early stages but fought back to win six frames in a row.
The 2014 champion highlighted his superiority with a break of 132 in the eighth frame - the second-highest one-attempt score of the tournament so far.
Their match will be settled on Tuesday morning, with 32-year-old Selby needing to win three more frames in their best-of-10 encounter to secure progression.
Evening Recap
World No. 59 Sam Baird beat Michael White 10-7 in his opening match of the competition, winning the final four frames to blitz his more experienced opponent.
Entering the session 5-4 behind, White won three of the opening four frames to predictably stake his claim on the contest with breaks of 88 and 102.
However, the unheralded Baird produced some stunning snooker to bounce back from 7-6 in the evening session—with breaks of 54, 103 and 63—to claim his first-ever second-round berth in the Championship.
BBC Sport broke down all the stats from the affair:
The 27-year-old, whose best ranking finish is a last-16 at the 2013 Welsh Open, will now face either Selby or Milkins in the next stage on Tuesday.
The late game of the day saw Ricky Walden produced a magnificent late surge against Robbie Williams to seal a 10-8 triumph and secure his place in round two.
The 2013 semi-finalist was forced to dig deep against the 29th seed as he won five of the last six frames with significant breaks of 120, 84 and a final 110 to come from behind to win.
Having previously never won a match at The Crucible, Walden produces some remarkable feats of break-building and a stunning snooker escape to wow the Sheffield crowd.
The 33-year-old enters unknown territory in round two, where he will face off against Higgins.
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