• Snooker World Championship

O'Sullivan and Selby all square after first session

Ronnie O'Sullivan didn't have his best day © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Dott edges out Allen in Crucible thriller
  
• News: Classy O'Sullivan edges out Williams
  
• News: Dominant Selby too good for Hendry
  
• Profile: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Mark Selby will be disappointed to have ended the first session level at 4-4 against a below-par Ronnie O'Sullivan in their quarter-final tie at the Snooker World Championship.

World No. 1 O'Sullivan missed a series of straightforward reds in the early frames as he struggled with both his concentration and his cueing. At 3-2 in front, Selby looked well placed to build a substantial lead - but O'Sullivan showed glimpses of the form he is capable of as he fought back to level the match.

It was an encounter that was always likely to be closely-fought - when the two meet in the UK Masters final earlier in the year, Selby edged it 10-9. It was no surprise, then, when the scores were level at 2-2 after four frames.

O'Sullivan had claimed the opener, before Selby levelled the scores with a run of 84 after his opponent pushed a routine red wide of the pocket. It was the same story in the third, but O'Sullivan clawed his way back into the game by taking the final frame before the mid-session interval.

O'Sullivan's malaise continued in the fifth, which Selby claimed with a break of 90. With O'Sullivan unrecognisable from the player who had waltzed past Mark Williams the previous day, Selby was entitled to feel disappointed that he only led 3-2.

He would certainly have been disappointed with the way the sixth turned out, as O'Sullivan pulled out a run of 67 - at that point, his highest of the match. He continued to look resurgent in the seventh, but he was edged out as Selby snuck past him on a black-ball game.

Selby was now guaranteed at least parity when the players returned to the Crucible for the second session. Parity was all he got; with O'Sullivan belatedly beginning to cue smoothly, he pieced together a break of 81 to leave the score all square at the close.

In the other Tuesday afternoon match, 2005 champion Shaun Murphy opened up a 5-3 lead on Ali Carter. Murphy looked set to build a near-insurmountable lead as he raced into a 5-2 advantage with a series of useful breaks - the highest of which was 70 - but Carter won the final frame played to keep his hopes alive.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.