Stars attend green carpet for Ronnie O’Sullivan documentary
Ronnie O’Sullivan left BBC commentator Dennis Taylor baffled after potting the final red of his first frame victory over Zhou Yuelong in the UK Championship quarter-finals. The Rocket made a 125 break in a blistering start, but may feel that he got fortunate just when he was on the cusp of reaching a century.
O’Sullivan sent an optimistic final red to the top corner pocket and it appeared to be too far wide, edging to the cushion rather than the middle of the pocket. However, as commentator Taylor was just about to analyse the near-miss, the ball spectacularly rolled in.
He said: “Not quite, but what a start from Ronnie O’…. Oh! How did that red go in? That must have drifted because it hit the cushion. Wow. I think everybody thought that missed, including Ronnie. Dear me.”
After realising that the ball was actually potted, O’Sullivan walked around the other side of the table to knock in the yellow and mark yet another century before winning the frame with a break of 125.
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Snooker icon Steve Davis explained how the shot actually fell despite at no stage looking like it was going to be potted. “It’s a century that never was,” he joked. “Because this red was never in. It’s actually interesting, it starts to go to the side cushion and then all of a sudden starts to bend around, hugs the cushion and then drops in.
“What it means is that it’s very hard to get five pieces of slate and keep them level in a room where the table is just put in, because the table is very heavy and is forever settling. Even on a decent floor it’s a nightmare for the table fitters to keep on every day to check the table.”
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“There is some talk, I was listening to Mark Allen about this, he felt that the tables that we play on the balls come away from the side cushion. They don’t turn into the side cushions. It’s just that these tables have that idiosyncrasy.”
The 47-year-old has whitewashed his opponent in each of their previous two meetings at the tournament and clearly felt confident that he could do so again, taking the second and third frames in quick succession to go 3-0 up.
O’Sullivan made stuttering starts in each of his previous two UK Championship victories, prompting himself to criticise his game after victory in the last 16 over Robert Milkins.
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