Ronnie O’Sullivan v Gary Wilson LIVE: Snooker World Grand Prix result and reaction from quarter-final
Ronnie O’Sullivan beats Gary Wilson 5-1 to cruise into the World Grand Prix semi-finals in Leicester
Ronnie O’Sullivan coasted into the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix in Leicester with a 5-1 win over Gary Wilson.
Following a controversial eighth Masters triumph over Ali Carter in the final of the 2024 edition at Alexandra Palace last weekend, O’Sullivan has continued to question his snooker future, admitting he no longer gets enjoyment from the way he is playing.
However, the 48-year-old, set to take a break of a couple of months following the end of the tournament, showed no lack of sharpness as he recovered from losing the opening frame to move 3-1 ahead with a clearance of 129 either side of two half-centuries.
Wilson, the reigning Scottish Open champion, fell further behind after his break finished on 52, allowing O’Sullivan back to the table to secure the snooker needed before going on to clear the colours. O’Sullivan swiftly completed a comfortable win with another break of 58 in the sixth frame.
Amid his progress at the World Grand Prix, ‘The Rocket’ is engaged in an ongoing war of words with Carter, who accused his 48-year-old rival of snotting on the Ally Pally arena floor during the Masters final, with O’Sullivan hitting back in an extraordinary rant, calling his opponent “a f****** nightmare” before urging him to “sort his f****** life out” and “see a counsellor. Relive all the action from the World Grand Prix below:
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-1 Gary Wilson
All fairly easy in the end for Ronnie O’Sullivan. He’ll face Ding Junhui or Zhang Anda in the semi-finals tomorrow. Ding is currently 3-1 up on Zhang over on table two. Ronnie and Ding play almost every week it seems and O’Sullivan always wins
Judd Trump will face Cao Yupeng in the other semi-final this evening. A Trump v O’Sullivan final would certainly be tasty.
FRAME AND MATCH! Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-1 Gary Wilson
O’Sullivan gets over the line as he polishes things off with a break of 58. This has been a pretty ruthless performance from The Rocket and he cruises through. I’m sure he’ll be unhappy with his game when he gives post-match reaction but that was a fairly comfortable win and solid enough performance.
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN BEATS GARY WILSON 5-1 TO REACH THE WORLD GRAND PRIX SEMI-FINALS
The players have a bit of a chat at the handshake (or fist bump) at the end.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 Gary Wilson
O’Sullivan pots another red with a blue to follow but an attempted split of the remaining cluster of reds in the middle of the table goes wrong. So he fails to kill the match off. A good safety shot to leave Wilson snookered though.
And it pays dividends as Wilson sees the cueball fly into the pocket off his next safety shot to put O’Sullivan back in and he’ll finish things off from here.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 Gary Wilson
A rare error from O’Sullivan as he runs out of position after reaching 54. No colour available so the break ends there. He tries to roll into the pink from short-range but leaves it short on the first try. Gets it with his second go, so the lead is 54-6 with seven reds left on the table.
A reprieve for Wilson to still be in this match.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 Gary Wilson
A really nice split of the pack from O’Sullivan as he thunders into the bunch after potting the black. This is a match-winning chance for real now. He picks off reds with mostly blacks to build his lead up beyond 50 points.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 Gary Wilson
Wilson goes for a long pot to left corner, misses it by a long way and leaves O’Sullivan nicely on a red to the right corner to get going. The Rocket will want to get this match over and done with right here.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 Gary Wilson
Wilson on the brink now – he has to win the remaining four frames to avoid defeat. Losing from the position of O’Sullivan needing a snooker in that last frame will have been a gut punch.
FRAME! Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 Gary Wilson
Wilson hits the yellow but can’t get it safe and O’Sullivan makes the pot to left middle. He’s able to force the white round the angle to get on the green. From there the clearance is routine and O’Sullivan pinches the frame by a few points.
That’s gutting for Wilson and you feel his chances in this match may be over now. RONNIE O’SULLIVAN WINS FRAME FIVE AND IS ONE FROM VICTORY AT 4-1!
Ronnie O’Sullivan 3-1 Gary Wilson
O’Sullivan clears up two reds with colours and then goes about setting a snooker for Wilson. It’s a decent one, red going up the table and cueball in behind the black. Wilson misses it! That’s the four penalty points O’Sullivan needs to make the frame winnable again. Wilson can’t believe he’s missed that.
O’Sullivan pots red and blue but can’t get on the yellow. So a granite safety instead. He’s 55-30 behind but probably the new favourite for this frame with Wilson in trouble
Ronnie O’Sullivan 3-1 Gary Wilson
Good effort by Wilson to keep the break going when he overruns the cueball as he powers in a red and forces the white up to the baulk end to pot a yellow.
He then pots a red along the cushion and takes the black to right middle to move 52 points ahead with 51 remaining. There’s no chance to pot one of the remaining reds, so O’Sullivan will come back to the table needing one snooker
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