Ronnie O’Sullivan beats defending champion Ding Junhui to book quarter-final spot at 2012 Masters
Alexandra Palace in Stock, Essex, was filled with 1,500 spectators who came to watch England’s Ronnie O’Sullivan and defending champion, China’s Ding Junhui, playing against each other at the baize in the very first round of 2012 Masters snooker event.
The former three-time World Snooker Champion, O’Sullivan, was in good shape from the start of the match as he clinched first three straight frames to grab an early lead of 3-0. The Essex potter and local favourite was in a strong position to claim the victory
when he was three frames up with a 4-1 score line.
Meanwhile, Junhui had some other plans in his mind. The Chinese displayed his style of play and unsettled his opponent. The Comeback kid stunned O’Sullivan with his impressive game play and took three consecutive frames to pull level at 4-4.
The Wordsley potter, O’Sullivan, thought he was going to lose the match but he gathered some energy and tackled the situation with another frame win to reach 5-4. The Magician needed only one frame to hit the winning spot and make his way into the quarter-finals.
The former UK Championship winner pocketed a superb knock of 125 to put an end to the match and won it, 6-4.
Speaking to local reporters at the end of his match, O’Sullivan said, “Ding gets good results in the big events so I was pleased to win. We both missed a few balls but I played ok in patches. When he got back to 4-4 I just tried to stay relaxed. When he
was 4-1 down he had nothing to lose, but once it was 4-4 there was equal pressure. I got chances in the last couple of frames and managed to score from them.”
The Essex Exocet added, “The crowd was great, they supported us both and it was a good start to the tournament. Ding's one of the players I would pay to watch so it's a shame we had to draw each other in the first round.”
O’Sullivan’s son, Ronnie junior, was introduced to fans by MC Rob Walker before the start of the match. The Wordsley potter hoped that his son would be a better player than he ever was if he chooses to play snooker.
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