No 'Fergie Time' needed as Ronnie O’Sullivan cuts short Paul Scholes' viewing with World Snooker Championship masterclass at Crucible

O'Sullivan raced through the final three frames of his first-round match, to set up a last-16 clash against 'Class of 92' colleague John Higgins.

And that meant Scholes' afternoon in the prime seat in front of Table 1 lasted all but around 45 minutes, and he had to crank his neck towards the adjacent table, where a marathon thriller played out between Si Jiahui and Hossein Vafaei.

Scholes himself is a 'Class of 92' alumni, albeit in reference to him being one of a number of prodigious young talents to emerge from Man United's academy in 1992, before going on to enjoy an era of unprecedented dominance in English football.

Even by his own lofty standards, O'Sullivan's display on Wednesday afternoon was one oozing with pure snooker class, as he completely shut He out of the tie, and gave the Chinese debutant no hope to cling onto as he hoped to mount a comeback.

The Rocket held a 7-2 lead following a strong performance in Tuesday's opening session, needing just three frames for victory and a spot in the second round.

Despite coming into the World Championship off the back of another vastly reduced season schedule, O'Sullivan has not shown any signs of rust, and he emphatically closed out victory on Wednesday with breaks of 62, 113 and 100.

There was a short battle in the opening frame as O'Sullivan and He attempted to find openings to make a meaningful contribution, but once the snooker GOAT was among the balls, he made his class evident.

At 8-2 up, he was in with a chance of a maximum break, but on the ninth red, he valued the frame over the potential 147 bonus, opting to take on the blue, and dispatching for 9-2 in a hasty afternoon's work.

As he ran home a typically speedy century to close out the match, TNT Sports' coverage caught Scholes captivated by the manner in which O'Sullivan was working the balls.

"I think people from other sports are impressed," TNT Sports commentator Neal Foulds remarked. "Paul Scholes, watching on, he hasn’t taken his eyes off it."

David Hendon added: "We don’t need 'Fergie Time' to settle this one. The match was done after the first session. Ronnie O’Sullivan won his first match here as an 18-year-old, won in his 20s, his 30s, his 40s, and this was his first match as a 50-year-old. He’s still playing a young man’s game."

Speaking to reporters after the victory, O'Sullivan said he had spotted Scholes among the spectators.

"It was good to see him," O'Sullivan said. "It was only the second frame, I went, 'that's Paul Scholes there'. He looks really well, fit, healthy. Good to see him come to the snooker, you know."

Scholes retired from football in 2013, aged 38, and has since been assistant manager at United, before taking on the main manager job at Oldham Athletic, and as caretaker manager for Salford City, the League Two club he part-owned for over 10 years before a new consortium led by David Beckham and Gary Neville took it over last year.

You can watch every day of the 2026 World Snooker Championship live on TNT Sports. It is available both live and on-demand on HBO Max.