Ronnie O'Sullivan's quest for an eighth win at the Masters began with a 6-3 win over Ding Junhui, victory coming after the Chinese superstar made a 147 maximum break in frame seven.
O'Sullivan broke the back of the match with an early barrage of big breaks, but Ding ensured he played his part in a terrific tussle that featured three centuries, including only the fourth maximum in Masters history – two of which have now been made by the 2011 champion.
The 147 break wasn't all plain sailing for Ding, a tough yellow beautifully floated in before he had to navigate a tricky positional shot from blue to pink, and then pot the pink with the rest. The black was more straightforward and he bowed his head in relief even before the final ball had dropped into the pocket.
"What a moment this is, unbelievable"
— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 8, 2024
Ding Junhui with an 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 147 against Ronnie O'Sullivan 🤯⚫ pic.twitter.com/Sl1UsUmWo1
It came at the peak of a stirring comeback from Ding, who had been a passenger in the early part of the contest as O'Sullivan raced out of the blocks with breaks of 67, 87 and 106 to lead 4-0 at the mid-session interval.
That looked for all money like turning into 5-0 when O'Sullivan was nursing a sizeable lead in the fifth frame, only for a routine missed red to open the door for Ding who finally got a foothold in the match with a classy 56 clearance.
When he added a further run of 92 to reduce his arrears to 4-2, the match had started to hot up and the roof almost came off when the maximum followed in frame seven, snooker perfection completed and the comeback well and truly on.
O'Sullivan, however, was in no mood to let his advantage slip and he firmly shut the door on Ding's fightback, a magnificent clearance of 127 putting him on the brink of the last eight, the job then completed with another clearance only minutes later, this time of 93.
"Unbelievable 147 from Ding, I knew he’d make it from about the second or third red. What a magnificent player," O’Sullivan told the BBC.
Ding was left to rue his sloppy start, but was pleased to have found some form when the opportunity to make a maximum presented itself.
"I had a lot of chances at the start but just messed up," he said. "I didn’t think I would play that well when we came back so to make a maximum was amazing.
"I saw the balls open and thought I could try a maximum because Ronnie was playing so well."
In the evening, Ali Carter found a change of gear upon his Masters return to beat two-time champion Mark Williams 6-4.
Trailing 3-2 on his first start at Alexandra Palace in four years, Carter took charge with back-to-back centuries to progress to the last eight.
Monday January 8
First round - best of 11
Afternoon session (1300 GMT)
- Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 Ding Junhui
Evening session (1900 GMT)
- Mark Williams 4-6 Ali Carter
