It was another frustrating day for Ronnie whose quest for a suitable tip continues. This one, the third to be chewed off in five matches played this week, was “spongy” …
Here are the scores:
This was vey low scoring by Ronnie’s standards. Ding had two centuries; the 135 he made in frame two was the 550th in his catreer.
O’Sullivan will require a fourth tip of the tournament in tomorrow’s match. He has now removed his tip at the end of his last three matches.
Despite his ongoing tip struggles, it had looked as if O’Sullivan was set for a more comfortable win this evening. He led 4-2, before Ding surged back into contention by winning two on the bounce, including a fine break of 114, to restore parity.
O’Sullivan got the job done in the decider, making a break of 50 on his way to securing victory.
I,m not too sure that interviewing Ronnie whilst he’s eating crisps is such a great idea…
This is a more comprehensive report by Eurosport:
SCOTTISH OPEN SNOOKER 2020: RONNIE O’SULLIVAN OUSTS DING JUNHUI AGAIN TO REACH SEMI-FINALS
Ronnie O’Sullivan was out of sorts but victorious against his rival Ding Junhui as he recorded a 5-4 victory to reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Open in Milton Keynes. It was the third quarter-final of the day that went to a deciding frame, and he can look forward to a meeting with Li Hang, who defeated Judd Trump earlier on Friday.
Ronnie O’Sullivan – Scottish Open
Image credit: EurosportRonnie O’Sullivan continued his fantastic head-to-head record against Ding Junhui, beating his rival 5-4 to reach the Scottish Open semi-finals.
The Rocket faces Li Hang, the conqueror of world number one Judd Trump in the last four and could face a potential final against Mark Selby, following their thrilling World Championship semi-final in August.
The first frame was a cagey affair, with neither player managing to put together a big break. Ding won a lengthy battle for the blue but O’Sullivan pulled out a fine pink into the corner pocket before potting the black to steal the frame.
The second was altogether more straightforward, with Ding rattling off a total clearance of 135 to draw level.
O’Sullivan pulled ahead once more, taking advantage of a costly miss on a corner red from Ding to fire off a break of 60, which proved to be an insurmountable margin for the world number nine.
After a Ding miss on the blue, O’Sullivan had a chance to rattle through the fourth frame, but he missed a black and his rival cut the arrears to one.
And Ding had a chance to draw level but a costly miss, coupled with a fantastic long red, gave Ronnie the chance to record a break of 69 and move one frame away from victory.
Ding and O’Sullivan spent much of the seventh frame trading snookers before the former put together a good break to reduce the deficit to one. He then rattled off a century to ensure the third quarter-final of the day went the distance.
The Rocket went through the gears at the start of the decider but was left frustrated when a red came off both sides of the pocket. It did not cost him, and when Ding could not get out of a snooker, he conceded.
The sentence I have put in a lighter grey doesn’t make much sense as it is. It should probably read “fifth frame” rather than “fourth frame”.
And Eurosport again shared short videos on twitter as the match unfolded
Before it started
Pre MSI
MSI – the dump shot
Post MSI
Post match
Ronnie and Li Hang have played each other only twice before and Ronnie won both times. Their last match was at the 2017 Scottish Open. Li however is a much improved player nowadays, he’s much stronger mentally, so we souldn’t read anything in these stats. We just have to hope that tip nimber four will be a good one!
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Actually I didn’t really enjoy that match. It didn’t look like either player was taking it very seriously, with Ding in particular playing ridiculously fast. They both wanted to win, but only by playing a fast open game. Perhaps the Scottish Open isn’t a particularly big tournament for them, or maybe these endless trips to Milton Keynes without crowd is finally getting too monotonous. In fact, it was a very close result, with Ding missing a couple of balls that proved decisive.
Nor did I like Ronnie’s interview (on ES), with the cue “on its way to John Parris”, an implied criticism of Martin Clark, who had kindly done it for him earlier. And then Ronnie referred to his semi-final opponent as “what’s his name?” and wasn’t surprised to be seen sleeping during their previous match.
As with everything else in life at the moment, we have to hope that 2020 comes to an end as soon as possible, and that we can all return more positive in 2021. I have a ticket to the Masters, but not to Ronnie-Ding – they were sold out quickly. Perhaps that’s just as well.
I guess you are right about the fact that many players are getting tired of Milton Keynes… but at the same times they do recognise WST efforts to keep the tour going. It’s not easy for anyone. Maybe you are reading too much in Ronnie’s comment about the cue going to John Parris. That’s what he usually does when he wants a new tip fitted. Martin Clarke, I suppose, can only fit the tips he has at his disposal on site and I don’t suppose that he has all makes and types in stock. As for falling asleep, if he remembered that match ( I’m not sure if the pundits mentioned the fact that it was at the Scottish Open in 2017 ) and the circumstances, he wouldn’t be surprised. He was absolutely knackered. He had won the English Open mid October, traveled to China for the International Championship, got back to England for the Champion of Champions, made the final, went back to China to win the Shanghai Maters, back to Belfast for the Northern Ireland Open, back to York where he won the UK Championship, then right away to Glasgow for the Scottish Open… That was mental. And Higgins trashed him by 5-0 on the next day…