World Championship snooker: Ronnie O'Sullivan slams rivals in savage interview after beating Ding Junhui

By Sporting Life

Snooker

Mon August 10, 2020 · 4y ago

Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Ding Junhui 13-10 to book his place in the quarter-finals of the World Championship before claiming 'I'd need to lose an arm and a leg to fall out of the top 50.'

The last-16 clash had appeared to be on a knife-edge when the concluding session began with the players locked together at 8-8, but O'Sullivan was much stronger from the outset and closed out the match with typically silky breaks of 117 and 93.

A brilliant opening red from O'Sullivan set the tone for the evening - in contrast to Ding's wayward long potting throughout - though, having missed a simple black off the spot soon after, he would have been relieved to find a plant on his very next visit to the table that paved the way for a fluent run of 87.

O'Sullivan quickly extended his lead to two frames thanks to a break of 73, Ding left to rue a tricky missed cut-back yellow that gifted his opponent another glorious opening.

In the following frame, it was O'Sullivan's turn to stew in his chair after a lapse safety shot left Ding in prime position and the Chinese made no mistake, seemingly having the cue ball on a string as he registered his first frame of the night thanks to well-taken break of 88.

Ronnie O'Sullivan on semi-retirement and facing Mark Williams at the World Championship

With that frame on the board, Ding now looked to be finding his stride when pouncing on another missed black from O'Sullivan, building a handy lead as he looked to level the scores before misjudging a simple positional shot and then missing the subsequent red from mid-range.

As ever, O'Sullivan needed no second invitation; quickly clearing one of the reds tied up on the side cushion with a wonderful cannon before floating in another mid-range pot with the rest, and then going on to clear the table up to the black with almost surgical precision - handing Ding a hammer blow in the process.

To Ding's credit, he returned from the mid-session interval and quickly reduced his arrears to 11-10 thanks to a break of 89 after O'Sullivan had missed his third easy black of the night.

However, any hopes Ding might have harboured for a memorable comeback were soon extinguished as O'Sullivan reaffirmed his superiority with a majestic run of 117 before setting up a quarter-final meeting Mark Williams with a similarly classy hand of 93.

😲 Ronnie O'Sullivan wasn't mincing his words tonight!

😂 'The players coming through are so bad I'd probably have to lose an arm and a leg to fall out of the top 50.'pic.twitter.com/7eVJQ8XH6D
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) August 9, 2020

Wilson resists Gould comeback

Kyren Wilson withstood a strong comeback from Martin Gould to win 13-9 and book his place in the quarter-finals of the World Championship for the fifth time.

The 28-year-old, who was handed a first-round bye following the withdrawal of Anthony Hamilton, had resumed with an 11-5 lead and requiring two more frames to progress.

But Gould reeled off the first three frames of the morning and should have had a fourth until a calamitous error left Wilson with a free ball and the chance to clear from two snookers down to move within one frame of victory.

Gould reduced the deficit again with a break of 73 and was in first in the next but gave Wilson a chance which he exploited to finally book a last-eight clash against Judd Trump.

Reflecting on his delayed entry to the tournament, Wilson admitted: "100 per cent I would rather have played - I was worried whether I would have the match sharpness and I was also the last to experience the different atmosphere.

"But it's obvious the longevity of the tournament can take it out on a lot of players. I had a week off that other players won't have had, and I'll be playing every day. I prefer that because I feel like I build and get stronger once my timing is there."

Kyren Wilson on Judd Trump: "We'll never be best friends"

Robertson too strong for Hawkins

Neil Robertson pulled away from Barry Hawkins to keep alive his hopes of winning a second world crown.

The Australian, who will play Mark Selby in the quarter-finals, resumed at 8-8 and pounced on some uncharacteristic errors from Hawkins to take the first three frames of the session.

Hawkins reduced the deficit with a superb break of 104 but Robertson restored his lead with a 79 despite the black being out of service, then seized a second chance in the next frame to complete a 13-9 win.

Robertson said: "I'm a completely different player to when I won in 2010 - the whole game has moved on and last-16 matches are always going to be really tough here.

"I thought the match was played to a good standard despite the conditions with the humidity and the air conditioning.

"You need to learn to adjust to the conditions. Last year I didn't handle it well, but this year I've done really well so that was my focus coming in and my shot selection has been really solid."

🏆 2010 world champion Neil Robertson is safely through to the quarter-finals.

🇦🇺 Up next for the Australian is Mark Selby...pic.twitter.com/Wa1SYLrDmt
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) August 9, 2020

McGill outlasts Clarke in epic

Anthony McGill booked his first appearance in the quarter-finals since 2015 after a dramatic 13-12 win over fellow qualifier Jamie Clarke.

The pair, who were involved in a furious exchange on Saturday when McGill accused the Welshman of deliberately standing in his line of sight, had exchanged frames to reach 10-10.

McGill then edged ahead for the first time in the match but Clarke moved to the brink of victory after winning the next two frames.

In the next frame Clarke missed a pink on a break of 55 which would have effectively won him the match, allowing McGill to fight back and force a decider.

After both players missed good chances, McGill gained the upper-hand via a tight snooker behind the brown and went on to seal a last eight clash with another qualifier, Kurt Maflin.