Kyren Wilson leads Lei Peifan in first round of World Championship

Kyren Wilson shrugged off a slow start to take a commanding lead over Lei Peifan at the end of the opening session of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.

Wilson, who is bidding to become the first first-time winner to retain his title at the Crucible, fired a break of 136 as he recovered from losing the first two frames to establish a 6-3 lead ahead of Saturday evening’s conclusion.

The so-called ‘Crucible Curse’ seemed to have struck Wilson in the opening stages, as a pair of missed blacks allowed Lei, who won the Scottish Open in December, to cruise into a 2-0 lead.

But from the moment Lei failed to punish Wilson for another missed black in the third frame, the momentum started to shift, and the Chinese player served up far too many opportunities for Wilson to turn the tie around.

A break of 82 got Wilson off the mark and, after he won the next two to take the lead, a dismal safety from Lei let his opponent in for a 66 break and a two-frame advantage.

Lei had a chance to punish the champion further in the seventh but missed a red to the middle on 43, Wilson responding with back-to-back breaks of 82 and 136, before Lei stopped the rot to take the final frame of the morning session.