England's Ronnie O'Sullivan leads Kyren Wilson 10-7 after the first day of the World Snooker Championship final in Sheffield ©World Snooker

Five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan ended the first day of the World Snooker Championship final in Sheffield with a 10-7 lead over fellow Englishman Kyren Wilson.

The 44-year-old O'Sullivan, who won the first of his world titles in 2001 but has not lifted the trophy since 2013, lived up to his nickname of "The Rocket" as he raced into an 8-2 lead in the 35-frame final at the Crucible Theatre.

But, if the 300 spectators allowed into each of the two sessions today after the United Kingdom Government had given the go-ahead for a limited number of fans to attend, thought it was going to be easy for O'Sullivan then they did not count on Wilson's battling spirit.

He won five of the day's last seven frames to set up a fascinating second day tomorrow. 

The winner will earn a cheque for £500,000 ($650,000/€550,000).

Both players had won their semi-finals 17-16, O'Sullivan defeating three-time world champion Mark Selby and Wilson knocking out Scotland's Anthony McGill.

Wilson, the 28-year-old from Kettering and winner of the gold medal at the 2017 World Games in Wroclaw, was appearing in his first World Championship final and seemed affected by nerves in the early stages before launching his comeback.

Kyren Wilson came back strongly in today's second session of the World Snooker Championship final at the Crucible Theatre when it looked like he might be overwhelmed by Ronnie O'Sullivan ©World Snooker
Kyren Wilson came back strongly in today's second session of the World Snooker Championship final at the Crucible Theatre when it looked like he might be overwhelmed by Ronnie O'Sullivan ©World Snooker

The final is due to continue tomorrow at 1.30pm when another 300 people will be allowed in for each of the two sessions.

More than 10,000 people had applied for 500 tickets not already allocated for the final following the late decision by the Government to let them attend.

When the tournament began on July 31 a reduced crowd were able to watch, as social distancing and other health and safety measures to deal with COVID-19 were implemented.

Midway through the opening day, however, it was announced that test events for the return of crowds were being scrapped after a rise in coronavirus cases, so the event had gone on behind closed doors until today.

The remaining tickets for the final were priced at £121 ($158/€134) for the first three sessions and £132 (£173/€146) for the last session, and they sold out in just three hours.

But O'Sullivan has been critical of the decision to readmit spectators, describing it as an "unnecessary risk".

If the pilot event at the Crucible is a success, it could pave the way for other sports venues in Britain being opened up to limited numbers of crowds in the coming weeks.