Ronnie O’Sullivan leads Ali Carter as both struggle for their best at the Crucible

Ronnie O’Sullivan has taken a 5-4 lead over Ali Carter in their first round clash at the World Snooker Championship, although neither could find their best form with any regularity at the Crucible.

The Rocket was playing his first competitive match since January and is using a new cue, so it is perhaps not surprising that he looked rusty at times.

The Captain won a couple of games to get through qualifying, but did so while struggling with a neck problem, so he too had a reason for not performing at his peak.

The pressure of the occasion and the intense gaze of the world on the Crucible may have also got to both men as we saw plenty of mistakes from the two players.

The old rivals may have been frustrated with themselves, but to their credit they did play the game in good spirits, shaking hands to commence the contest and bring the session to a close.

There were plenty of chances for both over the first three frames, with Carter taking the first and O’Sullivan grabbing the next two.

Then the Rocket fired up for the first time, knocking in a break of 107 to go to the interval 3-1 up and with some sort of confidence behind him.

The Captain won the first frame after the interval and really should have levelled the match after making a break of 60 in the sixth, but O’Sullivan eventually pinched it.

While both would say they played poorly by their own high standards, there was some quality and the next two frames were good.

O’Sullivan went 5-2 ahead with a break of 85 before Carter made a 107 to get back within two.

The last frame of the session felt significant and O’Sullivan was in early with a brilliant long red but was unfortunate to knock in a red when going into the pack after potting the blue.

There were more chances for both but it was Carter who made an impressive clearance to take it and remain within one frame.

Neither will be delighted with how they played, but they won’t be disappointed with the scoreline given the standards they were producing.

‘Really hard fought,’ six-time world champion Steve Davis said on the BBC. ‘I think considering the fact it was the first session of their campaigns.

‘Even though it wasn’t absolutely the best snooker we’ve seen this week, it was still important stuff. I think they can both be pretty proud of their performance.’

He added: ‘I think every player is quite pleased to get the first session of the World Championship out of the way. But especially Ronnie, it’s been a while since he’s been on the competitive stage.

‘I’m not saying he’ll be breathing a big sigh of relief, but, ok we’re in the tournament now and let’s look forward to the second session.’

The second session is at 2.30pm on Wednesday as they battle it out to be the first to 10 frames.