UK Snooker Championship LIVE: Ronnie O’Sullivan dramatically beats Zhou Yuelong in tight quarter-final
O’Sullivan edges past Zhou 6-5 for a place in the semi-finals at the York Barbican as Hossein Vafaei beats Zhang Anda 6-4
Ronnie O’Sullivan returned to action at the UK Snooker Championship with a dramatic win to book his place in the semi-finals at the York Barbican. O’Sullivan is bidding for an eighth UK Championship crown this week but for the second round in a row needed a deciding frame to advance, as he fought his way past Zhou Yuelong 6-5.
‘The Rocket’ got off to a flyer as he raced into a 3-0 lead, including a break of 125 in the opening frame, and then led 4-1. But Zhou hit back with four frames on the spin as the wheels came off the O’Sullivan train and he seemed destined for defeat at 5-4 behind.
But, as he has so often done before, he found another gear to level the match at 5-5 and then a ruthless break of 122 in the decider sealed the deal and set up a semi-final clash with Hossein Vafaei, in a rematch of their fiery World Championship clash from earlier this year.
“Technically I was all over the gaff,” said O’Sullivan after his win. “Out of desperation, I started to play alright in the last two frames. Before that, I was going through the motions. I was so frustrated and so disappointed with how I played, that didn’t feel any pressure. I wasn’t nervous, he was playing better and I deserved to lose. “
Relive the action from the UK Championship below:
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-0 Zhou Yuelong
Nice pot by Zhou. Red in the heart of the pocket and holds the cue ball to take the green to right middle after it careered down the table. The pink has been opened up a bit,s o it’s available to the middle pockets and the right corner.
He’ll look to build a lead here.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-0 Zhou Yuelong
Pink and black are both tied up here, so O’Sullivan having to work with the blue/baulk colours initially. Looks like he may be able to free the black if he can pot the red just above it but before he can do that, he’s forced to go up the table for the green.
Tries to power it into the yellow pocket but it rattles out. Break ends at 12 and Zhou has a mid-range red to get him going.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-0 Zhou Yuelong
Right. How are you feeling Zhou? A tough long red to the left corner but he could really do with this. Ah... Not good apparently...
Overcuts it by a long way and the cue ball cannons into the pack of reds as he hit it so poorly. Leaves O’Sullivan plum in. Time to turn the screw.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-0 Zhou Yuelong
Underway in frame three. Can Zhou get on the board? Or pot a ball first - got to take this step by step.
FRAME! Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-0 Zhou Yuelong
O’Sullivan pots a red to the left corner and that’s that for the second frame. 2-0 to ‘The Rocket’ and he’s been imperious. A 125 clearance and a break of 71 so far.
Zhou has potted zero balls so far...
Ronnie O’Sullivan 1-0 Zhou Yuelong
Not sure why I said it wasn’t a frame-winning opportunity when he came to the table, I clearly forgot who was playing! He thumps home a black to move 71 points ahead with 67 remaining.
He tries to cannon the three reds away from the cushion but is unsuccessful. Forced to play safe and Zhou will play on but, barring snookers, he’ll be 2-0 down here. Can he at least cause Ronnie a few minutes of pain first?
The table not exactly set for a counter-clearance with three reds on the bottom cushion, one on the left cushion and just one in the centre of the table.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 1-0 Zhou Yuelong
This break is hard work but O’Sullivan is manoeuvering the cue ball in between other balls with typical class. He moves the break to 60 and only needs a couple more reds to get over the line here.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 1-0 Zhou Yuelong
O’Sullivan runs slightly out of position but calmly strokes in a blue to the left middle, comes in and out of baulk and is back in prime positon as he takes the break past 20.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 1-0 Zhou Yuelong
A compelling safety battle where Zhou is holding his own but O’Sullivan is absolute granite in that department these days. His free-flowing break-building rightly gets the attention but he might be the best in the world tactically as well now. A far cry from his style in the 90s and 00s.
Eventually, Zhou makes a slight error, giving ‘The Rocket’ a look at a long red near the right corner. Crunched in! And is on the black but there are reds tight to cushions, while all three baulk colours are tied up. Not necessarily a frame-winning position but Ronnie can build a lead.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 1-0 Zhou Yuelong
Solid break-off by Zhou. Doesn’t leave O’Sullivan a tempter. But eventually, Ronnie works an opening and crunches a long red into the right corner. He comes up slightly too far for the blue but can use the yellow to work his way back down the table.
Ah, runs into the blue on the way back down, so just the safety and a three-point lead.
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