Ronnie O'Sullivan socks it to Craig Steadman at Crucible

ByEurosport

Updated 22/04/2015 at 06:52 GMT

Tournament favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan began his campaign against qualifier Craig Steadman and almost recorded a maximum break in the first frame, potting 13 reds and blacks but was unable to achieve a 147.

Ronnie O'Sullivan

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O'Sullivan, who recently injured his foot, later suffered discomfort in the same area and began to play without shoes - risking a fine by breaking the dress code.

The Essex player borrowed some from tournament director Mike Ganley and capitalised on a number of errors from Steadman - especially missing a series of blacks off their spots - to take a 7-2 lead into the third day.

For the record, O'Sullivan rolled in 104, 61, 59, 54 and 75 to leave himself three frames short of victory when the players players resume at 10am (BST) on Wednesday morning.

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O'Sullivan is likely to face Matthew Stevens in a repeat of the 2012 semi-final after Stevens compiled a 7-2 overnight lead against fellow Welshman Mark Williams.

Ding Junhui managed to put the disappointment of missing out on a maximum 147 break as he recovered from trailing 4-3 overnight to complete a 10-7 win over Mark Davis in the World Championship first round.

Ronnie O'Sullivan socks

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Hastings potter Davis had led 4-0 on Monday afternoon before Ding found patches of his very best form to reel in the Englishman in sealing his spot in the last 16.

Davis opened with a knock of 106 on Tuesday morning to move 5-3 clear, but there was real drama to come in the ninth frame as world number three Ding reached 97 and looked on the cusp of a maximum 147 break having potted 12 reds and 12 blacks.

Astonishingly, Ding opted to play for the blue to a centre pocket with the three remaining reds all out in the open and the colours on their spots.

The Chinese player missed a tough cut on the black, but he was clearly finding some much-needed form as further breaks of 59, 73 and 85 secured his progress with Davis faltering. He will face four-times winner John Higgins in the last 16.

Northern Irishman Mark Allen recovered from trailing 3-1 early to complete a 10-3 win over toiling Welshman Ryan Day by winning the final nine frames.

Resuming 6-3 clear from the morning, he won the first four frames of the evening session finishing with a 92 break to validate a fruitful day's work.

Allen had rolled in 73, 67, 81 and 101 to leave himself four frames short of the winning post. He faces facing 2013 finalist Barry Hawkins.

[Ronnie O'Sullivan plays in socks]

Ali Carter also progressed into the second round thanks to a 10-5 win over Alan McManus. The two-time finalist will now play 2010 winner Neil Robertson.

Carter, who was given the all-clear from cancer for a second time in December, told the BBC: "I've been working hard on my fitness and the practice table.

"Peter Ebdon is here to help me on the practice table. All things considered, today will bring me on leaps and bounds and I'm here to win this tournament."

Wednesday's order of play - first round (best of 19 frames)

10am

Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) 7-2 Craig Steadman (Eng)

Joe Perry (Eng) v Zhang Anda (Chn)

2:30pm

Mark Williams (Wal) 2-7 Matthew Stevens (Wal) - to finish

Shaun Murphy (Eng) v Robin Hull (Fin)

7pm

Joe Perry (Eng) v Zhang Anda (Chn) - to finish

Judd Trump (Eng) v Stuart Carrington (Eng)

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