Ronnie came from 4-1 down to beat Li Hang by 6-4 at the 2020 Scottish Open. He will play the defending Champion, Mark Selby today in the final.
Here are the scores:
Ronnie was playing with yet another tip, and was missing a lot in the early stages of the match. His long potting in particular was non-existent. But, as he has done all week, he competed and never stopped trying. He started to play much better after the MSI.
Rocket Fightback Floors Li
World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan battled back from 4-1 down to beat China’s Li Hang 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Matchroom.Live Scottish Open.
The Rocket is now through to a remarkable 55th ranking final of his career, where he will face Mark Selby or Jamie Jones for the Stephen Hendry Trophy and the £70,000 top prize.
Li conquered former World Champions Stuart Bingham and Judd Trump during a superb run this week. However, defeat today means he will have to settle for £20,000 in prize money. That ensures his place in the field for next week’s 32-player World Grand Prix.
It was Li who made the strongest start today, composing breaks of 77 and 62 to establish an early 2-0 advantage.
O’Sullivan, who was playing with his fourth tip of the week after problems in previous matches, got his first frame on the board with a sublime century run of 123.
Li then appeared to take a stranglehold on proceedings, firing in breaks of 73 and 66 to move 4-1 ahead. He then spurned a golden opportunity to move a frame from victory, breaking down on 49 in the sixth frame. That allowed O’Sullivan to summon a break of 84 to make it 4-2.
The seventh followed a similar pattern, with the six-time Crucible king composing a sensational contribution of 87 to come from behind in the frame and close to 4-3.
O’Sullivan restored parity, before breaks of 93 and 59 helped him to make it five on the bounce to secure his 6-4 win.
O’Sullivan said: “I don’t know how I’ve come out winning that one. I’m really shocked to be honest with you. I’ll take it and it is nice to be in the final.
“If the other guy is penetrating through the ball and you’re not, then he is always going to boss you about a bit. I had to compete, which I’m quite good at, I’m a bit of a competitor. That gave me a chance to stay in the game. The minute I sensed that something could be turning, I was ready.
“I’m sure at some point down the line this will do me good. I haven’t played in a lot of tournaments over the last five or six years, I’ve picked and chose. Maybe that has caught up with me a little bit. I’ve never really doubted myself, maybe twice in my career. I get thoughts now that maybe I’m not capable of dominating like I used to. I still do alright and it will be interesting to see if my game can get a bit stronger from playing a few more matches.”
There were also reports by Eurosport:
This is the report on the match:
SCOTTISH OPEN SNOOKER 2020 – RONNIE O’SULLIVAN BATTLES BACK TO BEAT LI HANG AND REACHES THE FINAL
Ronnie O’Sullivan was trailing 4-1 shortly after the mid-session interval as Li Hang played some of his career-best snooker, but the Rocket showed greating fighting spirit to come back and book his place in the final where he will meet Mark Selby who beat Jamie Jones 6-1.
Snooker Scottish open – O’sullivan’s fluke against Li
Image credit: EurosportRonnie O’Sullivan fought back from 4-1 down to beat Li Hang 6-4 and secure his place in Sunday’s Scottish Open final at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
Li produced some excellent, attacking snooker to craft a three-frame advantage but ran out of steam against the Rocket, who staged a remarkable comeback – on the back of runs of 84, 87, 93 and 59 – to progress to his 55th ranking event final. However, the 37-time ranking event winner felt his performance left a lot to be desired, telling Andy Goldstein in the Eurosport studio that he should never have won the match.
I’LL TAKE A WIN ALL DAY LONG. I SHOULD NEVER HAVE WON IT. THE CUE ACTION WAS NOT GREAT TODAY I WAS STRUGGLING. I COULDN’T GET ANY PENETRATION THROUGH THE BALL.
“I was really trying to get any grip and I was losing the white quite a bit and I had to stay patient,” added O’Sullivan.
The world number 37, who knocked out Judd Trump 5-4 on Friday night, was tipped as a potential problem for six-time world champion O’Sullivan and Li showed why as he got off to a terrific start when he raced into a 3-1 lead at the interval, notching a quartet of half-centuries.
Li extended his lead after the break with a 66, but O’Sullivan showed once again why he is considered one of the game’s greatest players as he pulled back three frames to level. He cleared for an 84 before emptying the table with a brilliant 87.
O’Sullivan continued to show nerves of steel as Li began to look visibly frustrated, and the world champion pulled it back to 4-4 by cross doubling the red on the cushion into the bottom right before mopping up the colours.
The 45-year-old O’Sullivan then took the lead with a break of 93 and went on to grab the victory with a break of 59 – a win which looked so unlikely at the mid-session interval.
And this is their report on the post-match ES Studio interview:
O’SULLIVAN: THE SNOOKER GODS WERE LOOKI
NG AFTER MERonnie O’Sullivan made it through to a 55th career ranking event final after a 6-4 comeback win against Li Hang on Saturday. However, the world champion was far from happy with his performance, telling Andy Goldstein in the Eurosport studio that he should not have won the match. He will play the winner of Mark Selby and Jamie Jones in Sunday’s final.
Ronnie O’Sullivan may have won five frames on the bounce to prevail 6-4 against Li Hang in the Scottish Open at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes but felt he was fortunate to get past the world number 37.
The six-times world champion at times cut a frustrated figure as he struggled for consistency as Li opened up a three-frame advantage. However, the Rocket would steady himself, winning five frames on the bounce – behind breaks of 84, 87, 93 and 59 – to seal progression to Sunday’s final.
Yet the 37-time ranking event winner told Andy Goldstein in the Eurosport studio after the match that he was lucky to win.
I’LL TAKE A WIN ALL DAY LONG. I SHOULD NEVER HAVE WON IT. MY CUE ACTION WAS NOT GREAT TODAY. I WAS STRUGGLING. I COULDN’T GET ANY PENETRATION THROUGH THE BALL.
“You can see why he beat Judd because he looked sharp and he didn’t miss much. But towards the end maybe the snooker gods up there were looking after me,” he added.
O’Sullivan changed his cue tip earlier in the tournament, and he has wrestled with his action since, but he added that he drew on his wealth of experience to compete with and eventually overhaul Li.
I HAD ABOUT 20 DIFFERENT CUE ACTIONS OUT THERE. I WAS TRYING TO GET A PAUSE BECAUSE I WAS MISTIMING EVERYTHING.
“One thing I do know is how to compete and how to somehow get a result sometimes. That’s good to have that but you need a cue action in this game to compete with the top guys in the long run.”
O’Sullivan will face either Mark Selby or Jamie Jones in Sunday’s final.
As usual there were a few short clips shared by WST and Eurosport on social media:
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Actually I thought from 4-1 down Ronnie played very well. Li Hang was very unlucky in several frames, and found himself levelled at 4-4. Then when he failed to roll up behind the yellow, he cracked. So yes, Ronnie was lucky, but to quote the classic Card Play Technique: “The secret of being lucky is to grab it with both hands when it comes within range”.