Ronnie O’Sullivan has taken a giant step towards a mouth-watering second round match against fellow 50-year-old John Higgins with a highly impressive start to his quest for an eighth world snooker title. Despite initially heading for the wrong table on his return to the Crucible, O’Sullivan looked instantly back at home following a mixed season spent largely outside of England that has contained recent hints of a return to form. O’Sullivan raced to a 5-0 lead before sharing the final four frames of the opening session of his first round match against China’s He Guoqiang to lead 7-2 ahead of the conclusion on Wednesday afternoon. Although O’Sullivan did reach the semi-final last year, he looked bereft of confidence with what was a new cue before being comprehensively outplayed by the eventual winner Zhao Xintong.…