Ronnie O’Sullivan ends Mark Williams’ unbeaten run
Ronnie O’Sullivan finally got his first win in the snooker Premier League after beating Mark Williams convincingly, while Marco Fu stormed to the top of the table.
Joining the players at the Penrith Leisure Centre were a number of flies, and it looked like the games were being played in a heat wave instead of late October.
Heading into his crunch match with Williams, O’Sullivan was at the bottom of the league, having drawn all three of his previous matches. His attitude was spot-on last night and he played exceptionally well to record his first win of the competition with a 4-2 victory.
O’Sullivan began the game in trademark fashion, knocking in a break of 98 but missed out on the £1,000 bonus for a century. Williams didn’t score a point, and that continued in the second frame as O’Sullivan made a breaks of 44 and 78 to go two up.
Williams has played well on his return to the Premier League, and he halved the deficit as a 47 proved enough after O’Sullivan missed a red down the cushion to pinch the frame. A fly appeared to have put O’Sullivan off the shot. The Rocket looked in fine form as he made a 70 in the next frame to guarantee himself a point and maintain his unbeaten run.
If Williams wanted to stay unbeaten like O’Sullivan, he would have to win the last two frames, but efforts of 39 and 50 helped O’Sullivan secure the two points and the much-needed win. Even though he had lost the game, Williams softened the blow by taking the last frame with breaks of 34 and 40 and stay in second place and above O’Sullivan in the table.
“I played alright when I was in the balls and was relaxed and that was good to feel relaxed at the table,” said O’Sullivan, who now stands a good chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Over the past few years, O’Sullivan’s long-potting has declined, and there were several times where he was unable to knock one in. Even he admits this is a problem. “My long game wasn’t good though. I’ve not been able to pot long balls for last six or seven years so I’m relying on nouse around the table and on people not playing well for me to win but a win’s a win,” he said.
Earlier in the evening, Fu went to the top of the table to give him a strong chance of reaching the play-offs by beating Ding Junhui 5-1.
Ding, who has played all of his matches, is now out of the competition after suffering back-to-back defeats.
Last week, reigning world champion Neil Robertson inflicted a 6-0 defeat on Ding, and Fu nearly did the same.
Fu came firing out of the blocks as he knocked in breaks of 39 and 44, playing great positional shots and keeping good control of the cue ball. Like he did against Robertson, Ding was struggling once again to get a break going, and Fu seized his opportunity in the second frame with a 42 and a 39.
In no time at all, Fu ensured he would leave with a point by winning the third frame without Ding scoring a point. The UK champion was out of sorts, missing easy balls and playing poor safety shots. The win was there for the taking for Fu, and he made a 94 to take the maximum two points.
By this point, Fu had potted 100 balls compared to Ding’s 10, but Ding did manage to make his trip worthwhile by clinching the fifth frame and £1,000 with a quick-fire 71. Before the game, Fu was the only player not to have made a century break, but he changed that in the final frame with a beautifully constructed 107 to round off the match.
“Towards the end I was relaxed and made the century but I got the two points which was the most important thing. The 100 [century] was a bonus,” said table-topper Fu, who has one match remaining in the round-robin format.
“I played very well without making any big breaks in the early stages. I made some good pots and put him under pressure and he didn’t pot a ball till the third frame.
“Maybe he’s taking the game too easy but he’s too good a player not to do well. Ding is having a bad run but there are so many tournaments so he won’t be too disappointed,” added Fu.
Certainly there are no flies on Fu.
Tags: