Rocket Ronnie halts Liang fight-back while Davis wins thriller
Ronnie O’Sullivan set up a mouth-watering last-16 match with Mark Williams after overcoming Liang Wenbo 10-7.
O’Sullivan had built up an overnight lead of 7-2, and looked to wrap up the match very early when he won two of the first three frames to make the score 9-3.
Liang had his chances, but failed to punish O’Sullivan. He had made breaks of 100, 108, 54, 86, 56 and 60 to leave Liang with a lot to do.
However, Liang Wenbo wasn’t going to lie down, and he won the next four frames to make the score 9-7 and unsettle O’Sullivan. It seemed that O’Sullivan lacked the motivation to win, which Liang pounced on.
But ultimately The Rocket managed to clinch the final frame and cross the finishing line.
“I had to find something from somewhere, the pressure was getting on me a bit. It was quite nerve-racking out there. The nerves play a big part here unless you settle. Unless you get into your rhythm early it can be tough.
“You can miss anything out there sometimes and that proved to be the case. But thankfully I just managed to nick a lead after that first session,” said O’Sullivan.
Steve Davis advances over Mark King
Steve Davis rolled back the years to overcome Mark King in a final frame decider to win 10-9.
Mark King had led 3-1 and 6-4 earlier on in the match, but Davis managed to salvage four frames in a row to lead 8-6. King was given a warning by the match referee fro swearing, and this seemed to unsettle him.
King managed to make the score 8-8, but it was Davis playing the better snooker, and took a 9-8 lead.
A bad miss from Davis in the penultimate frame allowed King to clear and take it to a decider, but all of Davis’ years of experience showed, and it was he who advanced to set up a last-16 tie with defending world champion John Higgins.
“What a game, he's like granite! That's why I nick-named him the weeble many years ago, he never gives up. The emotion at the end, I knew it wasn't the end of the game but I knew he needed snookers.
“In terms of performances and considering I haven't had much match play that was like climbing a mountain for me. Other than that I probably only produced one other decent performance this season and that was against Stephen Hendry in the UK when I got back to 6-6 before he played very well to win,” said Davis.
Tags: