I can win world title in my 50s, says O'Sullivan

Seven-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan believes he is capable of winning a world title in his 50s after he thrashed Jackson Page 10-1 to reach the last 16 at the 2024 event.

O'Sullivan, 48, is already the oldest snooker world champion after winning in 2022, aged 46, and would need to lift the trophy again in 2026 or later to become the first winner aged 50 or over.

"I know the ability is there it's just finding the right formula," O'Sullivan told BBC Two. "I've already broken the rules for snooker, I'm still going at 48, 49 and I'm seeing what's possible now.

"Can I win a World Championship at 50, who knows? I'm probably the only player able to do that but let's see, let's have an experiment."

O'Sullivan is aiming to win his eighth title and move clear of Stephen Hendry's mark of seven Crucible successes in the 1990s, and he began Thursday's play with an emphatic 8-1 lead over his 22-year-old opponent.

A break of 79 took O'Sullivan one frame away and he clinched victory soon after.

He will now play another Welsh player in Ryan Day, who defeated 15th seed Barry Hawkins 10-8 in Wednesday's evening session.

Last-16 matches are best of 25 frames, so first to 13, and the first session will take place on Sunday (10:00 BST), with the match then resuming later that day at 19:00 before being played to a finish on Monday afternoon (14:30).

O'Sullivan's winning margin was the joint largest at this year's competition, matching Kyren Wilson's 10-1 victory over Dominic Dale.

Before the tournament O'Sullivan said he did not consider himself the greatest snooker player of all time, but he was in more bullish mood after his victory.

"To do what I have done in this season, I have done over a whole career," he added. "I have been doing it for 30 years. I've had the greatest career of any snooker player.

"How many people can say they have been the best, or most successful, in their job ever? I have to really give myself a pat on the back because I don't, I am hard on myself. Nobody has achieved what I have achieved on a table statistically."

Hendry, speaking on BBC Two, feels O'Sullivan would benefit from a number of seeds being eliminated already, and could sweep through the tournament.

"I think this could be a procession, this World Championship. It looks like he's on it, the draw's opening up," said Hendry. "Ronnie always beats who he's supposed to beat when he's supposed to beat them. He gets to the winning line with not one hesitation.

"It's something you can't teach, you either have that or you don't. Two players in his half of the draw who have beaten him this season - Mark Williams and Zhang Anda - are both out. He has Judd Trump, possibly in the semis, who hasn't beaten him since 2020."

Page, the world number 43, added: "Ronnie has an aura around him and you feel it. He just puts you in positions that not many people can do - it's just a nightmare.

"Everyone knows he can pot and break build, all the players can do that, but his safety is probably the best on tour by far but because his break-building is so good, no-one sees it."

In Thursday's evening session (19:00 BST) John Higgins completes the first round as his match with Jamie Jones will be played to a conclusion.

Welshman Jones qualified with a win over 2010 winner Neil Robertson and is aiming to back that up with a victory over the four-time world champion.

Higgins, 48, holds a 5-4 lead after a hard-fought first session and needs a victory to have a chance of staying inside the world's top 16.

There is speculation the 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011 winner will retire if he was to fall out of the top 16, with him telling BBC Sport he would "evaluate" his future after the competition has finished.

If Higgins was to lose, it would set a new record for the highest number of seeds to be eliminated in the first round.

Eight of the top 16 - Luca Brecel, Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Ding Junhui, Ali Carter, Gary Wilson, Zhang Anda and Barry Hawkins - have all lost, level with the eight that fell in 1980, 1992 and 2012.

The second round began on Thursday, with 16th seed Robert Milkins taking on David Gilbert, the man who beat 2023 champion Brecel on the opening day.

In the evening session, world number two Judd Trump begins his last-16 match against 14th seed Tom Ford.