Australian Neil Robertson defeated China’s Pang Junxu 10-6 to ensure a Crucible record-equalling 15 seeded players won their first-round matches at the 2026 World Championship.
Fourth seed Robertson’s four-frame victory meant, for only the third time, all but one of the seeds made it through their matches against the qualifiers.
The only player that came through qualifying to still be in the competition is world number 32 Hossein Vafaei of Iran, after he defeated China’s Si Jiahui 10-3 earlier on Thursday.
The Crucible has staged snooker’s biggest event since 1977 and never have all 16 seeds advanced, with 15 reaching round two in 1983 – when Jimmy White lost to Tony Meo – and again 10 years later when Doug Mountjoy defeated Alain Robidoux.
“Hossein did me a favour earlier on because all the seeds had won, so the pressure was building and building and who was going to be the one that let everyone down?” joked Robertson.
He said he “can’t work out” why the qualifiers had found it so tough, adding: “There were a few debutants this year and some young players that had not had the experience of playing here. The bigger surprise has been there have not been many close matches.
“But there probably won’t be that fairytale underdog story this year.”
Against Pang, Robertson held a 5-4 overnight lead and made breaks of 77, 80 and 100 in the final frame to secure the victory.
He won the 2010 World Championship but failed to qualify in 2024 and lost in the first round last year.
On that occasion he was beaten 10-8 by Chris Wakelin and the pair will meet again in the last 16, starting on Saturday and finishing on Monday.
Two-time Masters champion Robertson felt the fact most of the top-ranked players were left in the tournament would benefit him.
“It means there will be a lot of good matches. I have a great record at the Masters [which features only the top 16] so I enjoy playing the great players,” added Robertson.
“I’m in the part of the draw where all the players are aggressive so that will suit my game and means I don’t have to work too hard to play on my terms.”
Vafaei only qualifier to win at Crucible in 2026
Vafaei’s reward for beating Si is a tie with world number one Judd Trump.
Si, a semi-finalist in 2023, held a 3-1 lead, but 31-year-old Vafaei then won nine frames in a row, thanks to breaks of 81, 61, 60, 105, 53, 78 and 68.
Over the last three frames of the first session on Wednesday and the four frames on Thursday, 15th seed Si only scored a combined 64 points as Vafaei impressed.
He will play the 2019 winner next and said: “Judd is one of my friends and a nice guy on and off the table. He is the world number one so it’s the best match.
“I’m getting a lot of support from back home and they would love me to do very good in this tournament.
“Si is one of the best players China has so a tough opponent for me, I respect his game and I’m one of his fans, he is such a great player.”
Murphy in control of opening last-16 tie
In the first of the last-16 matches, 2005 winner Shaun Murphy moved into a dominant 6-2 lead over China’s Xiao Guodong.
Murphy scraped through 10-9 against Fan Zhengyi in the first round, calling his match-winning break of 50 in the decider the best break he had ever made at the Crucible after he had trailed 53-17.
But the 43-year-old Englishman found this session to be calmer as he made breaks of 79, 103, 63 and 64 to go 5-0 ahead.
World number nine Xiao took the next two frames, but Murphy ended the session well and took the last with a run of 61 to have a four-frame lead in the first-to-13 match.
That match resumes on Friday at 10:00 BST and Murphy could win it with a session to spare if he wins seven of the eight frames in that session. The third session, if needed, will take place from 19:00.
Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen holds a 5-3 lead against England’s Kyren Wilson, the 2024 champion.
Two-time semi-finalist Allen made breaks of 50 and 78 to race into a 5-0 lead, but Wilson won the last three frames of the session, helped by runs of 75 and 50.
The second session is on Friday from 14:30, before it is played to a finish on Saturday morning.
- Watch: World Snooker Championship – Murphy cruises into lead; Vafaei beats Si
- Vafaei ‘fighting to make Iranians proud’ at Worlds
- World Championship 2026: Match schedule, BBC TV times & results