York Chronicles – day 3 | Ronnie O'Sullivan

First day of the last 32 round, and it was an eventful one.

In their daily preview, Colin, Ronnie and Jimmy focused on the Higgins v Carter match. They also go through the draw, picking their favourites to come out of each quarter.

John Higgins duly beat Ali Carter, by 6-2. The match though was far from being as one sided as the score suggests; indeed at the MSI, Ali had better the stats in every department except the one that matters, the score. Higgins played very well but Ali did have his chances; mistakes on crucial balls cost him dear. After the match Ali revealed that his Crohn disease was affecting him at the moment.

Stuart Bingham miserable season continued, as he was beaten by Peter Ebdon. Peter of course pointed at his vegan diet as the source of his current form. How many bananas he brought in the arena wasn’t disclosed.

The evening matches preview focused on the Holt v Swail match.

The evening session saw wins for Joe Swail, Luca Brecel, David Grace and Mark Selby. Selby did it the hard way – and the late way – and once again lived to his “Master of Brinkmanship” tag.

Ronnie, Jimmy and Colin analysed the Swail-Holt match and why Joe Swail is back to form. They are clearly delighted for him. Neil Foulds interviewed both Joe Swail and Luca Brecel. About Luca, Ronnie stressed how talented he is – “like Judd but with better cue ball control” – but also suggested that his attitude needs improving if he is to fulfil his potential.

MissingClip 2015 UK Champs: Day3 tv preview+MSI+review (Eurosport).

Here is the full day 3 in York punditry:

At the end of the show, the “three geezers”, as someone called them, answered a few fans questions. Asked if he was to play at the Masters, Ronnie answered “dunno”. Only to tweet this about half an hour later.