Ronnie O’Sullivan clinches first victory in Round 1 of 2012 China Open against Marcus Campbell
Former three-time World Snooker Champion from England, Ronnie O’Sullivan made a strong comeback from 3-0 down to claim his first victory of the 2012 China Open snooker tournament at the Beijing University Students Gymnasium arena. The Englishman played outstandingly
in the first round of the event against the Scotsman Marcus Campbell to beat him by a close score line of 5-4.
The clash seemed one-sided in favour of Campbell until the end of third frame but the Rocket bounced back into the match in the fourth frame to lead the game into a decider frame. Campbell was at the brink to claim the fourth frame but unfortunate for him
as he missed on a pink to let the ambidextrous potter at the table who made no mistakes and cleared the table in no time.
O’Sullivan totally outplayed the Scottish player and breezed into four consecutive frame wins during the second session and reached the score line of 4-3. The Essex Exocet could have clinched the eighth frame to hit the 5-3 knock but a miss was enough for
Campbell to come at the table and win the set to pull level at 4-4 and drag the clash into a decider frame.
The Dumbarton, Campbell, grabbed a superb lead in the decider frame after he compiled 41 points. The 39-year-old played a safety after that to trouble the Magician. But the Wordsley potter came back terrifically and hit a long red into the pocket. He cleared
the table in instances firing a classy break of 77 points to claim his first victory.
Speaking to World Snooker after his win, O’Sullivan said, “All credit to Marcus, he's had a great season and been a top player for a few years. We had a good match there, he was up 3-0 so a lot of credit goes to Marcus but I was pleased to get through in
the end.”
The 36-year-old added, “I tried hard, it was a difficult start, I got no luck. Everything went against me, I just didn't feel like I was getting into the game. I lost a couple of black ball games, so it was hard really. Then after the break the balls went
a bit better for me.”
O’Sullivan’s participation in the event was doubtful because of his illness but the Englishman made it to the arena. He will next meet the Welshman, Mark Williams in the second round.
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