Ronnie O'Sullivan returned to the World Snooker Tour after a seven-week absence and battled to a 6-3 first round win over women's world number one Mink Nutcharut at the International Championship in Nanjing.
O'Sullivan's last appearance on the circuit was a 4-2 defeat against He Guoqiang at the English Open in September, but the 48-year-old looked sharp today as he compiled two centuries and four more breaks over 50 setting up another meeting with China's He in the last 64 on Monday.
Nutcharut, the 2022 World Women's Champion, threatened a huge upset when she took the opening frame on the colours, before seven-time Crucible king O'Sullivan recovered to take the next four with runs of 124, 89, 61 and 53. Thailand's Nutcharut battled back to 4-3, only for O'Sullivan to claim the last two frames with breaks of 69 and 132.
World number five O'Sullivan wrote on X: "An absolute privilege to play such a talented opponent. Thank you for the game and good luck in the future." And in a post-match press conference he added: "Hopefully I'll get a chance to see more of Nanjing because I hear it is a very beautiful city. All the players love being in China because the people treat us very well and make us feel special."
O'Sullivan was also asked a recent meeting with legendary actor Jackie Chan and added: "We have spoken a few times on the phone and we have mutual friends. This was the first time we he had met, he's a lovely guy."
Defending champion Zhang Anda, who won his first ranking title at this event a year ago, was pushed all the way by India's Ishpreet Singh Chadha before scraping a 6-5 victory. China's Zhang made a 131 to lead 3-2 but later saw a 5-3 lead vanish at 5-5. The decider lasted 35 minutes and Zhang took it with a 39 clearance to earn a second round tie with David Grace.
John Higgins came from 3-0 and 4-2 down to beat Ben Woollaston 6-4, as breaks of 117, 64 and 81 helped the Scot to take the last four frames. Mark Selby, who beat Higgins in the recent British Open final, also enjoyed a fine comeback from 4-2 down, beating Jamie Clarke 6-4 with runs of 112, 114 and 70 in the last four frames.
Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong top scored with 130 in a 6-0 whitewash of Ricky Walden while Ding Junhui made a 124 in a 6-0 win over Reanne Evans. World Champion Kyren Wilson was another 6-0 winner, beating Mitchell Mann.
China's Xu Si won a thrilling battle with Stan Moody by a 6-5 scoreline, taking frame ten with a 43 clearance and the decider with an 83. Matthew Stevens came from 5-3 down to beat amateur Simon Blackwell 6-5, making a 140 total clearance in frame nine. Pang Junxu edged out Elliot Slessor 6-5 with a 58 in the decider, while Si Jiahui earned a 6-4 success against Andrew Pagett.