LIVE: Defending champion Luca Brecel wins straight frames again, sneaks away from Gilbert in first round of World Championship

Things are going from bad to worse for Gilbert. Brecel has now found a rhythm and is at 41-8. Red balls in difficult positions.

Gilbert cannot score more than 7 points. It's missing the black color. Bressel must take advantage of this and widen the gap, but he also makes mistakes.

Pressel continues to play offensively, but it's killing him now. He doesn't pick safety and misses a tough shot. So it's Gilbert's turn.

Gilbert makes a modest impression this afternoon. Again missing a fairly easy bowl. Brecel is there again to receive the gift. He's already scored 20 points.

It's a very quick opening session. There are only 3 frames left before they end the game tonight.

There are two frame lead again. Pressel hits hard shots like it's nothing and clears the table. This produces a new century: 103

It becomes 4-2. Pressel is playing flawlessly, and is even on his way to a century.

Pressel has to work on making shots. Now he seems to have found a rhythm. The score is 26-22 with several loose red balls remaining on the table.

Luca Brecel had a great chance at 4-2. Gilbert misses the bowl with which he opened the set of red balls. The table is perfect for a break and Brecel comes to the table at 0-22.

The first bowl of the frame is from David Gilbert. Bressel did his best to hit a shot that was extremely difficult, allowing the Englishman to seize his chance. He immediately continues with a beautiful “plant”, a pot with two red balls in a row.

Bressel had no further problems. The defending champion easily escapes from difficult situations. He makes the last red ball himself.

The hunt for snooker has begun. Gilbert scored 24 points. Pressel will now have to defend.

Pressel posted an excellent break of 73. There were only 59 points left on the table, but Gilbert went for it anyway. He now has to force Bressel to commit 4 fouls.

Pressel once again plays like we often see him: fast and convincing. Immediately flies to 25-0 with red balls in interesting positions.

There's Pressel and Gilbert again. They play 5 more frames in this session. Who can create the best starting position? Brecel starts with a nice long bowl.

Despite the mistakes made by both players, it was a high-level start to the match. Tires were won with laps of 91, 134, 70 and 77.