Stars attend green carpet for Ronnie O’Sullivan documentary
Ronnie O’Sullivan was thanked by snooker referee Rob Spencer after the Rocket called a foul on himself that the official appeared to miss in the UK Championship final against Ding Junhui. The 47-year-old led 4-1 at the time and had an opportunity to extend his lead inside the Barbican in York, but pointed out his error in a classy gesture.
He was trailing 21-19 in the sixth frame but had an opportunity to build a strong break, though was facing a tricky shot on a red to the bottom corner. The white ball was just ahead of a pack of reds, forcing O’Sullivan to bring out plenty of equipment to make the shot without fouling.
He used the spider on top of the regular rest, rarely seen in matches, but took a considerably long time and was clearly doubting whether he could make the shot. As he aimed his cue down in order to connect with the white ball, he accidentally brushed a red with his cue which resulted in a foul and four points to his opponent.
The referee did not initially notice the foul, but O’Sullivan immediately pulled his cue away from the table and informed the official that he had slightly made contact with the red. This prompted Spender to reply “thank you, Ronnie” as the Barbican crowd rose to the Rocket a standing ovation for his honesty.
JUST IN Ronnie O’Sullivan out to ruin rivals’ CVs and ‘doesn’t care about winning'[REACTION]
“He has touched the red, so at the end of all of that, he has fouled four away,” Eurosport commentator Phillip Studd said. “There is applause from the crowd for the honesty with Ding back at the table, and he now has the same shot.”
Ding, having already been given four points for O’Sullivan’s indiscretion, then showed his quality by potting the difficult red that his opponent struggled with. This came when the Chinese star was three frames down and staring at the prospect of watching the match drift away in favour of the man who has already won the tournament seven times.
- Support fearless journalism
- Read The Daily Express online, advert free
- Get super-fast page loading
Don’t miss…
Ronnie O’Sullivan leaks UK Championship venue change after booking spot in final[INTERVIEW]
Snooker scores as Ding defeated Trump to set up O’Sullivan UK Championship final[RECAP]
UK Championship star Brecel ‘no longer a millionaire’ after blowing fortune[LATEST]
But Ding is a UK Championship expert himself, with three wins at the Barbican which has proven to be his most successful event of the Triple Crown.
This incident then caused the momentum to shift as O’Sullivan had supremely taken four of the first five frames but Ding came back to tie the match by winning the final three before the break.
O’Sullivan could perhaps have gotten away with his foul but showed his class and respect for the game and his opponent by noting it to the referee, even though it gave Ding four points and a chance to come back into the match.
Source: Read Full Article