By Simon Kendal-Williams

Matthew Stevens has a mountain to climb to make the second round of the Betfred World Snooker Championship after Kyren Wilson took charge of their first-round clash.

Carmerthen cueman Stevens, who came through three rounds of qualifying to reach the Crucible showpiece, looked comfortable enough in the early stages as the pair shared the opening two frames.

But Wilson – tipped by many as a potential world champion – showed why he has progressed to ninth in the world as breaks of 94 and 126 saw him open up a 7-2 lead after the first session.m

The match plays to a finish from 7pm on Sunday evening.

Tournament favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan must also come from behind to book his place in round two.

‘The Rocket’ – chasing his sixth world title – compiled two century breaks as he recovered from 4-0 down to trail Stephen Maguire 4-3, before the Scot ended their first session with a 6-3 lead.

Elsewhere, Chinese debutant Lyu Haotian also fired in two centuries as he opened up a 6-3 lead against Hong Kong’s Marco Fu.