Sporting Life
Ronnie O'Sullivan thinks of a life like Price Harry
Ronnie O'Sullivan thinks of a life like Price Harry

World Championship snooker: Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ding Junhui level at 8-8

By Sporting Life
Snooker
Sat August 08, 2020 · 4y ago

There's nothing between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ding Junhui heading into the final session of their second-round match at the World Championship.

Returning to the table at 4-4 on Saturday afternoon, another eight frames could not separate them and they'll resume on Sunday evening locked together at 8-8.

After losing the first frame of the second session, Ding was the one who looked like taking command as he rattled off breaks of 64, 118 and 101 to go into a clear lead.

O'Sullivan then took his turn with runs of 90, 89 and 73 as Ding contributed just nine points to see his advantage wiped out as The Rocket now took over in front.

But in keeping with the ebb and flow of the match, Ding dominated frame 16, this time keeping O'Sullivan in his chair as an engrossing match, played in an excellent spirit, promised much more yet.

Tempers flare as McGill cuts deficit

Anthony McGill clawed his way back from 7-2 behind to get within one frame of Jamie Clarke, who leads their last-16 match 8-7 with a session to play.

The Scot lost his temper and appeared to accuse Clarke of deliberately standing in his line of vision, this unsavoury episode occurring in the 10th frame and forcing referee Jan Verhaas to intervene.

Clarke in fact went on to win the frame and extend his advantage to six frames, but McGill took the next five to ensure the match is perfectly poised ahead of Sunday's conclusion.

Welshman Clarke beat Mark Allen in the first round and is five frames away from a shock Crucible quarter-final against an opponent with much more experience, having reached the last eight here in the past.

But the youngster may live to regret a tweet sent in the mid-session interval when leading 8-4, which read 'you want to dance, let's dance'.

McGill returned to win the next three frames, including a telling blow in the last which Clarke had chances to take. While most eyes will be on O'Sullivan's clash with Ding on Sunday evening, there will be intrigue next door, too.

Solid start from late-comer

Kyren Wilson made his belated Crucible entrance on Saturday, establishing a commanding 11-5 lead over Martin Gould.

Wilson is just one win from his fourth successive quarter-final appearance, after first-round opponent Anthony Hamilton withdrew citing concerns over the World Snooker Tour's decision to allow fans into the arena.

That of course happened just for the opening day of the tournament, before the event was again closed to fans, but it was too late for Hamilton to reverse his decision and meant Wilson had to wait to enter the fray.

He finally did so against Gould, an impressive first-round winner, but concerns Wilson might be caught cold were quickly put to bed as he won the first three frames with breaks of 52, 113 and 63.

A century from Gould got him off the mark but Wilson responded with runs of 90 and 64, threatening to power into a healthy lead before his opponent kept in touch with breaks of 62 and 70 as Wilson led 5-3 after the first session.

Wilson came out firing in the evening, winning five frames in succession and threatening to win with a session to spare, only for a maximum attempt to come unstuck after a kick on the black.

Gould got off the mark for the evening by stealing that frame and impressively taking the next, but at 10-5 down really needed to take the final frame to keep his fading hopes alive.

Wilson again suffered a kick when among the balls but this time Gould couldn't capitalise, missing a tricky brown and allowing his younger opponent to open up a surely match-winning lead of six frames at 11-5.

On the other table, Barry Hawkins and Neil Robertson exchanged centuries at the end of their first session, the Australian's concluding 105 ensuring he too held a slender 5-3 lead into the evening.

That soon became 6-3 following the resumption, but Hawkins took the next three frames to lead for the first time in the match.

Hawkins then looked set to land a devastating blow in frame 14, after Robertson had let him in with a careless missed red, but a miscue from the Kent potter and a missed red to middle soon after allowed Robertson to level at 7-7 with two more to play on Saturday.

Underlining how little there was between the pair all day, Robertson moved ahead again only to be pegged back at 8-8.

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