2026 World Snooker Championship: Mark Selby takes commanding first-session lead over Jak Jones
13th seed Chris Wakelin secured a 10-6 victory over 20-year-old British qualifier Liam Pullen, ensuring 12 of 12 seeded players advanced.
Wakelin was ahead 5-4 on the night, but world number 86 Pullen, who competed in four qualifying rounds, made it 5-5; but Wakelin won five frames in a row.
Wakelin, 34, said: “I feel really bad for Liam because he’s a great friend of mine; we train a lot and he’s an incredible player.” he said.
“We trained together for the first time a few years ago and he filled me up and I thought ‘what a talent.’ It’s a shame he didn’t really show what he can do but he did really well and made good use of himself.
“I’m really proud of him coming here for the first time and everyone in that arena wanted him to win, including me. “But I’m here to win and sometimes you have to be ruthless.
“I watched the draw and didn’t want to draw Stan [Moody] or Liam because they are my friends and I want them to win.”
Pullen, who lost his place on the World Snooker Tour last May before regaining it at Q School a few weeks later, said he loved his first Crucible match.
“I really enjoyed every moment,” Pullen said. “I felt like I was holding back at times and I thought it was a very tight 10-6. I loved that. You’ve got to have fun and I felt like I was close to doing something but it didn’t quite work out.”
In the afternoon session, O’Sullivan is leading 7-2 against China’s He Guoqiang, while Si Jiahui will start his match against Iran’s Hossein Vafaei and look for a quick finish.
