Ronnie O'Sullivan stuns Bingham in World Snooker Championship

Ronnie O'Sullivan surged into a 7-1 lead after the first session of his World Championship quarter-final against Stuart Bingham at the Crucible.

The reigning champion, seeking a fifth world title, was in irrepressible form in the best-of-25 match and reeled off breaks of 79, 111, 87, 133 and 78.

O'Sullivan, 37, severely punished any mistakes and looked set to whitewash the world number eight.

However, Bingham got on the scoreboard by taking the session's final frame.

Bingham, who has has won three tournaments this season, was completely outplayed by O'Sullivan, who lived up to his nickname of 'The Rocket'.

Former world champion Ken Doherty said on the BBC: "He was fantastic. There's nobody better to watch. It's effortless and that's the beauty of his talent.

"When Ronnie is in that form it's like trying to hold on to a racehorse by the shoelaces. Ronnie senses blood and never lets up when he's ahead."

Six-time world champion Steve Davis, who has the most session whitewashes at the Crucible with six, said: "It's the best feeling in the world to absolutely dominate as if the other player isn't there.

"But to be on the receiving end is horrible. Even chalking your cue becomes hard."

Four-time champion O'Sullivan amassed 733 points to Bingham's 199 and gave himself a great chance of reaching the semi-finals, where he would face either Shaun Murphy or Judd Trump.

O'Sullivan decided to take a sabbatical from the game last November and had only played one competitive match coming into the tournament since claiming his fourth world title last May.

But he improved on the form he showed in beating Marcus Campbell 10-4 in the first round and Ali Carter 13-8 in the second round.

O'Sullivan has hit six centuries at this year's tournament, with his highest of 133 coming in the sixth frame against 36-year-old Bingham.

O'Sullivan has given himself a realistic chance of finishing the match in two sessions, with a further eight frames scheduled for Wednesday morning and nine pencilled in for the evening.

In the afternoon's other quarter-final, England's Ricky Walden leads Welshman Michael White 6-2.

White is appearing at his first World Championship and has already seen off two-time champion Mark Williams and eccentric Thai player Dechewat Poomjaeng.

But the 21-year-old, the youngest player left in the tournament, found it tough going against first-time Crucible quarter-finalist Walden and made a best break of only 40 whereas the Englishman finished the session in style with a run of 113.