In a repeat of their final at the World Championship last August, Ronnie beat Kyren Wilson by 5-3 in the 2020 World Grand Prix quarter-finals. Ronnie was far from his best, in fact he didn’t play well at all, but somehow managed to win from 3-1 down.
The key? Sports journalist Nick Metcalfe nailed it on twitter:
Ronnie O’Sullivan came from 3-1 down to beat Kyren Wilson 5-3 at the matchroom World Grand Prix and could be in line for a momentous day on Sunday.
O’Sullivan has been nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year for the first time in his career with the public vote to take place on Sunday evening. He could win that award and this week’s tournament at the same time which would be a unique double triumph.
First he will have to get through a semi-final on Friday evening against runaway world number one Judd Trump, who eased to a 5-2 win over Martin Gould. Trump has won four of their last five meetings.
Wilson lost 18-8 in the Betfred World Championship final against O’Sullivan in August and looked on course for revenge tonight when he led 3-1, making breaks of 97 and 75. But the world number five made too many errors after the interval which let O’Sullivan back into the contest.
A run of 84 gave O’Sullivan frame five, then in the sixth Wilson had a chance to clear for 4-2 but ran out of position on the final pink, leading by 13 points. His attempt at a thin cut on the pink to a centre pocket not only missed its target, but sent the cue ball in-off. A grateful O’Sullivan took pink and black for 3-3.
In the seventh, Wilson led 33-4 when he failed again on the pink to centre. O’Sullivan made 86 to lead for the first time. The eighth came down to the last red, and a cracking long pot from O’Sullivan to a top corner set him up to clinch victory.
“When you are 3-1 down in a best of nine, you come out after the interval less tense, going for it a bit more,” said world number three O’Sullivan. “That helps because it sets your frame of mind.”
Asked about Wilson’s crucial shot on the pink in frame six which went in-off, O’Sullivan said: “The way he was pointing his cue, he was trying to get the white behind the black. The table was quite slidey and it can catch you out.”
O’Sullivan also shed light on a discussion between the two players ahead of the seventh frame. “I’ve got a Casio watch which cost £9.99 and it bleeps on the hour,” he explained. “Kyren was on a shot and it got to 9pm and it bleeped just before he hit the ball. He asked me to put the watch on pause, but I just took it off and gave it to the scorer.”
Looking ahead to his meeting with Trump, he added: “We have had a lot of good battles. I’ll have to raise my game to have a chance to beat him because he is playing to a very high level a lot of the time.”
Indeed Ronnie will play Judd Trump tonight and he has to improve massively to stand any chance. I don’t have high expectations TBH.
Listen here to Ronnie’s full post-match interview:
So, here you have it: Ronnie doesn’t practice much because he doesn’t have access to a good practice facility. He does not have acces to a suitable table – he has one at his mother’s place, he’s had it for a very long time – but this one isn’t by any means up to nowadays professional standards. This is far from ideal, but it is what it is. In the “covid” year, a lot of players are struggling for various reasons. Ronnie has actually done reasonably well under the circumstances.
And Ronnieknows full well that he needs to improve significantly to stand any chance, as reported by Phil Haigh:
…
‘We’ve had a lot of good battles. I’ve obviously got to raise my game to have a chance to beat Judd,’ O’Sullivan told WST.
He’s obviously playing at a very, very, very high level a lot of the time.’
He told ITV of Trump: ‘He seems to be in the semi-finals and finals every tournament he plays in.
‘For me it’s a good opportunity. I really enjoyed the match we had in the Irish final. I think we both played pretty good stuff. I’d like to be able to play somewhere like that.
‘I obviously enjoy the games with Judd, he takes the game to you, and he plays the game the way I think it should be played.
‘You’ve got to bring your A-game.’
…
Finally, I have to say that the efforts put by WST to create an attractive setup in the empty arena have been tremendous. Those are screen shots…
Ronnie O’Sullivan survived a mid-match wobble to beat Barry Hawkins 4-1 in the last 16 of the matchroom World Grand Prix, while Judd Trump came from 3-1 down to score a 4-3 win over Stuart Bingham.
O’Sullivan is still chasing his first title since becoming World Champion in August, having lost two finals this season. He’ll face Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals on Thursday evening – a repeat of the Crucible final which O’Sullivan won 18-8.
A break of 108 gave O’Sullivan the opening frame tonight and he added the second for 2-0. An incident-packed third frame included a prolonged discussion between O’Sullivan and referee Ben Williams on the ‘three-miss’ rule. Hawkins later had a chance to snatch the frame on the colours but ran out of position on the final black, leading by seven points. O’Sullivan potted the black and went on to win the respotted black, slotting it into a centre pocket for 3-0.
In the fourth, O’Sullivan looked to be cruising past the winning line until he missed a straight-forward brown when leading 57-40. Hawkins pinched that frame and had chances in the fifth as his opponent seemed to lose focus. But 37-time ranking event winner O’Sullivan eventually regrouped and made an excellent 51 clearance.
“I don’t know what happened on the brown (in frame four),” admitted O’Sullivan. “I struggled to string pots together tonight. My bad game was just a bit better than Barry’s.”
World number one Trump has shown an exceptional level of consistency so far this season; this is his eighth tournament of the campaign and so far he has landed two titles, reached two further finals, two semi-finals and two quarter-finals.
He was in danger of a last-16 defeat tonight as Bingham made breaks of 57, 88 and 132 to lead 3-1. Trump took frame five with a 101 then got the better of a scrappy sixth for 3-3. In the decider, Bingham led 25-4 when he attempted a tricky pot on the pink to a centre pocket, and it hit the far jaw. Trump punished him with 61 to set up a quarter-final with Martin Gould.
“I was relieved to see him miss that pink in the last frame because if that had gone in it was game over,” admitted Trump. “I have lost two deciders recently so it was important to win that one. Stuart put me under pressure and I was pleased by the way I dealt with it. I am very proud of my record so far this season. I have lived up to the standards I set in the previous two seasons.”
Gould followed up last night’s win over Mark Allen with a 4-1 defeat of Lu Ning. Breaks of 76 and 70 helped Gould to a comfortable victory. Wilson saw off Yan Bingtao 4-1 with top runs of 63, 81 and 87.
Iran’s top player Hossein Vafaei scored a superb 4-1 win over Ding Junhui in the last 16 of the matchroom World Grand Prix and believes his success can stimulate snooker’s development in his home country.
Vafaei became the first Iranian professional player when he competed on the tour in 2015, and has since been joined by Soheil Vahedi. In recent seasons 26-year-old Vafaei has had considerable success, reaching three ranking event semi-finals and climbing to 37th in the world.
Today’s performance against Ding showcased his ability as he knocked in breaks of 86, 134 and 51.
“I played really well today, I found my game,” said Vafaei, who now meets Mark Selby in the quarter-finals. “Ding is such a star in China, I really respect him. A lot of people are going to be sad tonight but I’m a fan of his as well. I like to play on the big stage in the big tournaments. It’s all about confidence. I lost in the first round of seven tournaments in a row last season, I was struggling. I’m delighted to get back on track.
Asked what the impact would be in Iran if he won a first ranking title, Vafaei replied: “You can’t imagine what would happen! So many people are following me. Snooker is a new sport in Iran so it needs time to grow there. When I win it’s a story in the newspapers and people will follow it more. If I lose, snooker is never going to grow. I have to keep winning to open a new market for the sport and the players. No one in Iran wants me to lose. We are good at sport there, people support us. They love me to play well.”
Selby continued his quest to win a second consecutive ranking title as he beat Anthony McGill 4-2. Leicester’s Selby thrashed Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-3 in the final of the Matchroom.Live Scottish Open last Sunday and has carried on his momentum. In the eight frames he has won this week, he has made a century and seven more breaks over 50.
Runs of 134 and 58 helped put him 2-0 ahead of McGill, then his opponent fought back to 2-2 with 87 and 128. World number four Selby responded with 86 and 91 to reach the last eight.
Four-time World Champion John Higgins suffered a 4-3 reverse against up-and-coming Chinese potter Zhao Xintong. Breaks of 111 and 137 helped give Zhao a 3-1 lead, then he missed match ball twice in frame five and that opened a window for Higgins to battle back to 3-3.
The decider came down to the last red, and Zhao slotted a tremendous long pot into a top corner, before clearing to the pink for victory.
“John missed a lot of easy balls and that gave me chances,” said 23-year-old Zhao. “I should have won 4-1 but I got nervous in the fifth frame. I told myself ‘no problem’ and still thought I could win. I played well in the last frame. Every time I win a match I have more confidence in the next one. I believe that I can win a tournament but I need to work hard.”
Zhao now faces Jack Lisowski, who got the better of a Gloucestershire derby against Robert Milkins, winning 4-0. After taking a scrappy opening frame, Lisowski rattled through the last three in just 32 minutes, making breaks of 130, 127 and 56.
I watched the Lisowski v Milkins match. Both players had expressed their emotional discomfort coming into the match. Robert Milkins has been a kind of “snooker father’s figure” for Jack since he was a young child. Jack handled it better than Robert. He played really well. Jack is marvellous to watch when on song. I hope that Robert, who is a nice down-to-earth bloke, whose life has not always been easy, can at least find some solace and pride in Jack’s good performances and ascension to the top 16. He’s played his part in that success.
Snooker ace Robert Milkins reveals that victory against Neil Robertson was best ever
THE first-round victory over the 2010 World champion in Sheffield is the highlight of a remarkable turnaround in the life and career of Milkins.
ROBERT Milkins secured “the biggest win of his career” last night – a stunning 10-8 success against Neil Robertson at the Betfair World Championship.
The first-round victory over the 2010 World champion in Sheffield is the highlight of a remarkable turnaround in the life and career of Milkins.
The Gloucester potter, 37, was in the gutter six years ago before friends took him in and rescued the player from sliding into further turmoil.
Since then, the man who beat Jimmy White to earn a first appearance in Sheffield since 2005 has sorted out his personal problems and is now at a career-best 19th in the world rankings.
Speaking after his victory Milkins revealed that being happy at home again has played a key role in his transformation.
He said: “It doesn’t get much better than that. I’m ecstatic, chuffed to bits.
“By far that’s the biggest win of my career. Neil is such a tough player to beat. If he gets on top of you he’s very hard to beat.
“I didn’t feel great in the last session but he was under pressure to do well this year. It was hard work, so to win was quite a relief.
“I’m just happy with life. I’ve got two great kids, a great missus, a great coach and a great manager. I don’t need anything else in life. I was £30,000 in debt, going to the pub every day and I was just going down in the gutter a few years ago, so to be here now is amazing.
“I lost my mum, my dad and I got divorced. It blew me apart. I didn’t get any help at the time.
“But to be here and playing so well, it feels great.
“I’ve always known I’ve had the ability but it’s been about finding consistency. My bad isn’t as bad as it used to be.”
Robertson said: “It was a bad day at the office but I’ve had worst defeats. You can’t take anything away from Robert because he played fantastic.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan survived a mid-match wobble to beat Barry Hawkins 4-1 in the last 16 of the matchroom World Grand Prix, while Judd Trump came from 3-1 down to score a 4-3 win over Stuart Bingham.
O’Sullivan is still chasing his first title since becoming World Champion in August, having lost two finals this season. He’ll face Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals on Thursday evening – a repeat of the Crucible final which O’Sullivan won 18-8.
A break of 108 gave O’Sullivan the opening frame tonight and he added the second for 2-0. An incident-packed third frame included a prolonged discussion between O’Sullivan and referee Ben Williams on the ‘three-miss’ rule. Hawkins later had a chance to snatch the frame on the colours but ran out of position on the final black, leading by seven points. O’Sullivan potted the black and went on to win the respotted black, slotting it into a centre pocket for 3-0.
In the fourth, O’Sullivan looked to be cruising past the winning line until he missed a straight-forward brown when leading 57-40. Hawkins pinched that frame and had chances in the fifth as his opponent seemed to lose focus. But 37-time ranking event winner O’Sullivan eventually regrouped and made an excellent 51 clearance.
“I don’t know what happened on the brown (in frame four),” admitted O’Sullivan. “I struggled to string pots together tonight. My bad game was just a bit better than Barry’s.”
…
The “prolonged discussion” showed actually two things: good sportsmanship by Ronnie as Ben Williams had failed to issue the warning AND the fact that even top players are confused about that rule, not knowing if being able to hit a ball on full ball is what is required or if they need to be able to hit both sides of a ball on.
Watch it here, and listen to Ken Doferty’s commentary
The whole match was played in great spirit.
I thought that Ronnie played very well for the first three frames.
The brown that Ronnie missed in the fourth frame came as a total surprise and I can only see one explanation: a big lapse of concentration as he really looked as he had the match won at that point. It clearly rattled Ronnie. I was very pleased to see him finish the match with that 51 in the next frame. It wasn’t an easy break, and after the missed brown in the previous frame, and the miscue whilst playing the green in the frame in progress, it wasn’t a certainty by any means. BTW I hope that the miscue will not trigger another “tip-gate” …
Ronnie is not exactly the self-forgiving type of guy, and his post-match quotes are just testimony of that.
Next up for Ronnie is Kyren Wilson tonight over best of 9. I expect Kyren to be out for revenge. Not an easy match for either.
Judd Trump fired centuries in the last two frames as he came from 3-2 down to beat Michael Holt 4-3 in the first round of the matchroom World Grand Prix.
Holt had a clear chance to knock out the world number one in frame six, but narrowly missed a tricky red on a break of 27, and that proved the key moment as Trump stepped up to the plate. He goes through to the last 16 to face Stuart Bingham.
Trump has already won two titles this season and looks to have shrugged off the disappointment of losing the Betway UK Championship final against Neil Robertson nine days ago.
But he was pushed to the limit today by world number 27 Holt, who compiled breaks of 136 and 78 to lead 3-2. If Holt had dropped a difficult red into a centre pocket in the sixth frame he might have gone on to win, but instead he had to watch Trump rattle in runs of 107 and 109 to book his second round place in Milton Keynes.
“It was a tough game from the start, he made things hard for me,” said Trump. “He had a chance at 3-2 and he was a bit unlucky. I had to dig deep and make two good breaks to finish it off. Michael can take a lot of credit for how he performed because I had to play my best to get over the line. He just needs to keep giving himself those chances and eventually he’ll break through.”
Masters champion Bingham came from 2-0 down to beat Li Hang 4-2 with breaks of 75, 62, 69 and 61.
China’s Ding Junhui looked at the peak of his powers as he whitewashed Jak Jones 4-0. After a run of 73 in the opening frame, Ding made a 137 in the second – the new front runner for the £10,000 high break prize.
Ding came from 48-0 to take the third frame, then in the fourth he potted ten reds with blacks before missing a mid-range pot on the 11th red on 80. He now meets Zhou Yuelong or Hossein Vafaei.
Lu Ning, a semi-finalist at the Betway UK Championship, edged out Robbie Williams 4-3 in a dramatic conclusion. China’s Lu, who made a 137 in frame five, trailed by 26 points on the green in the decider, but got the snooker he needed then cleared from brown to black to snatch victory.
Ronnie O’Sullivan admitted he felt “butchered and exhausted” after last week’s Scottish Open, but the Rocket recovered in time to beat Ali Carter 4-1 in the first round of the matchroom World Grand Prix.
O’Sullivan suffered a 9-3 reverse against Mark Selby in Sunday’s Scottish Open final and is now playing his sixth tournament within two months. The 45-year-old insists his powers of recovery are not as strong as they were in his younger days, but his array of skills remain intact and he outplayed Carter to set up a second round match with Barry Hawkins in Milton Keynes on Wednesday night.
World Champion O’Sullivan has now beaten Essex rival Carter in 15 of their 16 career meetings.
Carter started brightly with a break of 112 to take the opening frame, only for O’Sullivan to hit back with a 105 for 1-1. Frame three proved crucial as Carter, leading 52-44, missed the pink after potting the last red. His opponent punished him with a 20 clearance which included excellent pots on the blue and pink.
In the fourth, Carter was 38-57 down when he missed the last red along a side cushion with the rest, and again O’Sullivan took advantage to go 3-1 ahead. A run of 57 in the next saw world number three O’Sullivan past the finish line.
“Ali missed a lot of balls tonight, more than he usually would,” said O’Sullivan, who is yet to win a title this season. “When you are struggling at this game, your timing goes and anything is missable. It’s a confidence game – when you are confident you can attack the balls.
“Yesterday I was absolutely butchered, I felt exhausted. I don’t have the energy that I had years ago, I have noticed that whenever I reach a final it takes me two or three days to feel as if I want to do anything. After the World Championship it took ten days. I don’t have the stamina that I used to have, it takes me longer to recover.
“I am playing a few more tournaments this season but it’s better for me not to go deep in all of them, I can use 50 per cent of them for practice, to sharpen up for the tastier tournaments – the ones that get the juices flowing. One year I won everything and I was miserable because I was playing too many matches. The key for me is to stay fresh, stay hungry, enjoy my life and fit snooker in around my life.”
Looking ahead to his next match against Hawkins, O’Sullivan added: “Barry is a great cueist – if I could hit the ball half as well as him I would be over the moon. He is so consistent and so clinical with his technique. We have had some fantastic matches. The world final in 2013 (which O’Sullivan won 18-12) was as well as I can play, I was flying and I couldn’t shake him off. I will enjoy that match.”
Yan Bingtao beat David Grace 4-3 in a marathon battle which lasted three hours and 14 minutes. Grace came from 3-1 down to 3-3 and had a chance for victory in the decider, but in potting the green he lost position on the brown. A safety tussle on the blue was resolved when China’s Yan thumped home an excellent long pot to a baulk corner and he added the pink to seal the result.
Martin Gould made a tremendous comeback from 3-0 down to beat Mark Allen 4-3. World number ten Allen made a tournament-high break of 142 in taking the first three frames. But the match turned in the fourth when Gould fluked the final brown to get back to 3-1. The Londoner won two more scrappy frames for 3-3 then dominated the decider with runs of 43 and 59.
“I never felt involved in the match, I didn’t think I could win until the last ball,” admitted European Masters runner-up Gould, who now meets Lu Ning. “I was getting agitated with myself because I know how well have been playing but I am not showing it on the match table. I told myself to knuckle down because Mark was missing a few so I knew I would get chances. Hopefully tomorrow I can come out all guns blazing and make some bigger breaks.”
The WST report about the four remaining last 32 matches is not yet available, but here are the outcomes:
The Mark Selby v Liang Wenbo match was a very high quality affair, featuring a 50+ break in every frame, but no century. I have to say, I like a century as much as any snooker fan, but in recent seasons there is too much focus on them. I have seen many winning breaks that weren’t centuries but were actually better breaks considering the situation in the match and on the table.
Hossein Vafaei came back from 3-2 down to beat Zhou Yuelong by 4-3. There wasn’t much between the players; Hossein was the more fluent of the two when in the balls, and, maybe, that made the difference in the end.
Jack Lisowski beat Shaun Murphy for the first time in six attempts. Shaun wasn’t at his best. He hasn’t been for some time now, as he can’t relly practice as much as he wants and needs to because of the covid related restrictions in Ireland. Jack had still to win that match though, and he did despite the usual unexpected mistakes here and there. Stephen HEndry was very critical of Jack’s decision to play some shots right-handed instead of using the rest, and, indeed, he missed a couple really badly.
I didn’t see much at all of the Zhao Xintong v Jamie Jones match, only the last balls of frame five and frame six. From what I saw though, I have the feeling that Zhao is maturing, playing at a slightly slower pace, giving his shots a bit more time and thoughs.
Jack Lisowski was sick with food poisoning last week but gave himself the perfect tonic in the first round of the matchroom World Grand Prix, beating Shaun Murphy 4-2.
After a fine run to the quarter-finals of the Betway UK Championship, Lisowski was forced to pull out of the matchroom.live Scottish Open due to illness. But he was in rude health today in a fine performance against former World Champion Murphy. Lisowski now faces an intriguing last 16 clash against fellow Gloucestershire cueman and close friend Robert Milkins.
After sharing the first four frames, world number 15 Lisowski made an excellent 56 clearance to take the fifth. In frame six, Murphy was faced with a difficult safety shot on the last red, and missed the object ball twice, then on the third occasion left his opponent a mid-range pot. Lisowski, leading 59-43, thumped the red into a baulk corner and added the points he needed for victory.
“That was a big win for me because I had never beaten Shaun before,” said 29-year-old Lisowski. “When I was faced with the red in the last frame, I could have played safe, but my game is to go for them and it worked today.
“After the UK Championship I felt I had some momentum. Then last week I had a Thai meal and the next morning I was throwing up. I have never pulled out of a tournament before and I left it as late as possible but there was no way I could play so I had to withdraw. In a way it might have done me good because I have had a good break before this week’s tournament.
“It will be horrible playing Rob Milkins because he has been there for me for most of my career, he has looked after me. But for two hours he can’t be my mate because I want to get to the quarter-finals.”
Mark Selby is full of confidence having won the Scottish Open last week, and he won a high quality clash with Liang Wenbo by a 4-3 scoreline.
China’s Liang made breaks of 98, 79 and 90 in taking a 3-2 lead, but didn’t pot a ball in the last two frames as Selby fired runs of 94 and 75 to set up a second round match with Anthony McGill.
“It was a very good game from start to finish,” said world number four Selby, who finished the match with a 94% pot success rate. “At 3-2 down I was calm because I hadn’t done much wrong, he had punished me every time I had made a mistake.
“I have had two matches with Neil Robertson this season where I have lost having had 95% and 94% pot success rates, and it could have happened again today, but I managed to pay well in the last two frames. I have a lot of belief in myself having won the title last week.”
Iran’s top player Hossein Vafaei edged out Zhou Yuelong 4-3 with a crucial break of 62 in the decider, earning a tie with Ding Junhui. Zhao Xintong came from 2-1 down to beat Jamie Jones 4-2 with a top break of 61, setting up a match with John Higgins.
Ronnie played well, but not fantastically well, in beating Ali Cater by 4-1 yesterday evening. He missed a couple of shots when he needed to screw back, playing with power. He looked composed, and quite reliable when in the balls. In the first frame, a red went in, after he split the pack open from the blue. It wasn’t an obvious plant that he had overlooked. I don’t think he could have predicted that.
Ronnie O’Sullivan admitted he felt “butchered and exhausted” after last week’s Scottish Open, but the Rocket recovered in time to beat Ali Carter 4-1 in the first round of the matchroom World Grand Prix.
O’Sullivan suffered a 9-3 reverse against Mark Selby in Sunday’s Scottish Open final and is now playing his sixth tournament within two months. The 45-year-old insists his powers of recovery are not as strong as they were in his younger days, but his array of skills remain intact and he outplayed Carter to set up a second round match with Barry Hawkins in Milton Keynes on Wednesday night.
World Champion O’Sullivan has now beaten Essex rival Carter in 15 of their 16 career meetings.
Carter started brightly with a break of 112 to take the opening frame, only for O’Sullivan to hit back with a 105 for 1-1. Frame three proved crucial as Carter, leading 52-44, missed the pink after potting the last red. His opponent punished him with a 20 clearance which included excellent pots on the blue and pink.
In the fourth, Carter was 38-57 down when he missed the last red along a side cushion with the rest, and again O’Sullivan took advantage to go 3-1 ahead. A run of 57 in the next saw world number three O’Sullivan past the finish line.
“Ali missed a lot of balls tonight, more than he usually would,” said O’Sullivan, who is yet to win a title this season. “When you are struggling at this game, your timing goes and anything is missable. It’s a confidence game – when you are confident you can attack the balls.
“Yesterday I was absolutely butchered, I felt exhausted. I don’t have the energy that I had years ago, I have noticed that whenever I reach a final it takes me two or three days to feel as if I want to do anything. After the World Championship it took ten days. I don’t have the stamina that I used to have, it takes me longer to recover.
“I am playing a few more tournaments this season but it’s better for me not to go deep in all of them, I can use 50 per cent of them for practice, to sharpen up for the tastier tournaments – the ones that get the juices flowing. One year I won everything and I was miserable because I was playing too many matches. The key for me is to stay fresh, stay hungry, enjoy my life and fit snooker in around my life.”
Looking ahead to his next match against Hawkins, O’Sullivan added: “Barry is a great cueist – if I could hit the ball half as well as him I would be over the moon. He is so consistent and so clinical with his technique. We have had some fantastic matches. The world final in 2013 (which O’Sullivan won 18-12) was as well as I can play, I was flying and I couldn’t shake him off. I will enjoy that match.”
Needing more time to recover is a natural thing that happens to everyone when getting older. The current very busy schedule should favour the younger players … and yet, it’s not really happening.
Here is Ronnie’s post-match … including the part that WST didn’t report about.
Who on earth came up with the idea to ask Ronnie about his relationship with Ali? And for what purpose? Trying to get some controversial quotes? To generate some click-bait stuff in the online news and blogosphere? Whatever it was, it didn’t work. Ronnie avoided the trap.
Sports Personality contender Ronnie O’Sullivan opens up on Fury, Formula One and feeling superhuman
That trademark mischievous grin breaks out across Ronnie O’Sullivan’s face as he is reminded of one of his most colourful comments of the year.
It was back in August — and on his way to winning a sixth World Championship title — that he said snooker’s young players were so bad he would need to ‘lose an arm and a leg to fall outside the top 50’.
Four months on and sitting on his sofa at home in Essex, wrapped up in a festive red blanket patterned with reindeer, the Rocket’s smile lights up the screen.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has opened up on being a contender for this year’s Sports Personality award
O’Sullivan, who won his sixth world title in August, can often feel ‘superhuman’ at the table
‘I suppose I am a little bit like Tyson, I just say things for a bit of a laugh really,’ he admits over Zoom, referring to his fellow BBC Sports Personality of the Year contender Fury, who we will come to later on.
‘Sometimes I actually believe it when I’m saying it, that’s the weird thing. That supreme confidence that has been jabbed into me. You come off the table after a certain performance and you feel like a superhuman. You feel like you are capable of anything.
‘But then when you wake up the next morning you think, “Cor, could I really compete in the top 50 with one arm and one leg? Probably not!”. You probably say certain things where in hindsight you think, “Cor, I must have been feeling good when I said that!”.’
At the Crucible, O’Sullivan was also branded ‘selfish’ by Judd Trump after saying players were being treated like ‘lab rats’, then ‘disrespectful’ by Mark Selby for the way he tried to hit-and-hope his way out of snookers in their semi-final.
So, given his penchant for provoking fellow professionals, does he think they will be voting him SPOTY on Sunday night?
O’Sullivan has a penchant for provoking fellow professionals while at the snooker table
At the Crucible, he was branded ‘selfish’ by Judd Trump (left) after saying players were being treated like ‘lab rats’, then ‘disrespectful’ by Mark Selby (right) for his semi-final display.
‘Listen, within the snooker world everyone who knows me, knows me and even the ones who maybe quite dislike me, they don’t really dislike me,’ says the 45-year-old, who lost to Selby in the Scottish Open final last Sunday.
‘They might want to dislike me but they find it hard to in many ways.‘I don’t give them much reason. They know the real me. They know I love to compete and I work hard and I think that’s why they respect me more than anything.
‘Yeah, I say certain things but it’s just a bit of fish and chip paper. And sometimes I say certain things to try to motivate the younger generation to try to make themselves better.’
O’Sullivan’s feather-ruffling routine only adds to his public popularity, much like Fury, who asked to be taken off the SPOTY shortlist because he said he was already the ‘people’s champion’.‘I just think he’s a bit tongue in cheek sometimes,’ says O’Sullivan about the British boxer. ‘He’s just having a laugh. I don’t think he is genuinely serious.
‘If Tyson was to win it, he would receive the award in a gracious sort of manner. I just think he is a character who wakes up one morning and thinks, “This is how I’m feeling today and this is what I want to say”. I don’t think he meant any harm by it.’
The Rocket and Tyson Fury are clearly kindred spirits – as outspoken as they are outstanding
The Rocket and the Gypsy King are clearly kindred spirits. As outspoken as they are outstanding. Working-class world champions who have battled demons and overcome addictions.
‘I’ve met him a couple of times and he is a really nice, down-to-earth guy,’ adds O’Sullivan, who advised Fury on sports psychology ahead of his comeback fight in June 2018.
‘The comeback from where he was to where he is now is inspiring and his boxing ability is unquestionable. I don’t think there has been a heavyweight like him for a long, long time. He has been great for British sport and global sport.
‘He’s a street fighter. He’s like, “You want to fight me? Where and what time?” He comes from the world where the gypsy families kind of get it on.
‘He took Deontay Wilder on in that manner. Most people didn’t want to get in the ring with Wilder. He said, “Give me six months, let me lose some weight so I can at least give you half a decent fight”. It is great and refreshing.
‘Ayrton Senna summed it up in his documentary. They asked him who his greatest opponent was and he said it was in his karting days. The documentary brought me to tears. He is probably my sporting hero after watching that.
A documentary on Brazilian Formula One icon Ayrton Senna brought O’Sullivan to tears
‘It was pure racing and I relate to that because in some ways I enjoy the exhibitions when we are playing for fun. I’m not scared of falling off the tour. I’m not scared of not winning matches. Where I play and who I play is irrelevant, really, as long as I get my cue out and play.’
Mention of Senna brings us on to another of O’Sullivan’s rivals for the BBC award — the bookies’ favourite Lewis Hamilton, who this year surpassed Michael Schumacher’s record of Grand Prix wins and has matched his haul of seven Formula One titles.
Asked who he would vote for, O’Sullivan replies: ‘You’d probably have to say Lewis Hamilton for breaking the record. I’d say between him and Tyson. It depends what the award is for, because sometimes the message gets lost. Is it for sporting brilliance? Is it for personality? Is it for your achievements within your sport? Nobody really knows.’
This surprise sports anorak then issues his opinions about the state of Formula One. ‘It’s amazing to do what Hamilton has done but you tune out of Formula One because it’s a race, really, against two people. The only person who can in theory give Hamilton a go is Valtteri Bottas (his Mercedes team-mate), but Hamilton is mentally tougher than Bottas.
Lewis Hamilton is also up for Sports Personality of the Year award for his achievements in F1
However, O’Sullivan has question the competition in F1 following George Russell’s (right) performance in Hamilton’s (left) car while he was out sick with the coronavirus
‘When George Russell got in the Mercedes, he should have won the race and in his other car he was coming pretty much last every race. So it just shows how important the car is. You think, “Is there any point in watching it because there is no competition?”.’
Hamilton won SPOTY in 2014 and has been runner-up four times. In contrast, this is the first time O’Sullivan has even made the shortlist.
O’Sullivan has not even attended the usually star-studded show.
‘I don’t really like meeting my heroes,’ he admits. ‘A couple of times I’ve been offered to meet people who have been my heroes and I’ve said I’d rather not in case they disappoint you a little bit. I tend not to want to meet people unless it just happens naturally. I’m not a great talker, I’m not one of these who go around making conversations with people. I’m not a social animal.’
O’Sullivan hopes to be at the more low-key affair in Salford this year, although he could be playing in the final of the World Grand Prix in Milton Keynes, which would make presenting him a prize interesting for the BBC.
O’Sullivan has not even attended the usually star-studded Sports Personality of the Year show
He believes the reason behind snooker’s drought in SPOTY is down to the sport’s venues
He would be the first snooker player since Stephen Hendry in 1990 to finish in the top three and the first since Steve Davis in 1988 to win it. So what does he think is behind his sport’s SPOTY drought?
‘Years ago we played in fantastic, iconic venues every tournament and it added a bit of class to the sport,’ he replies. ‘Nowadays it’s maybe lost that. We play in leisure centres. I’ve got nothing against Milton Keynes but you are basically on a retail park. Would Wimbledon be as exciting if it was played in Crawley?
‘A lot of it is the perception that people have. It’s just not as globally appealing as some sports. I wish I’d been around when it was really popular in the 80s.’ It was only last month that O’Sullivan claimed he had ‘zero interest’ in the annual award. But now he adds: ‘I’d just accepted that I’d never get nominated. They didn’t have many sporting events this year, so I probably sneaked in the back door.
‘This is a great recognition for all sports people, but I always said the most important awards are the ones you win on the table.
‘I always looked up to Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry, but it was because of the titles they won, not because of Sports Personality of the Year.’
BBC Sports Personality of the Year is on BBC One on Sunday from 8pm.
Neil Robertson suffered a shock early exit on the first night of the matchroom World Grand Prix, losing 4-2 to bogey player Robert Milkins.
World number two Robertson won the Betway UK Championship final just eight days ago, but that has proved his last win of 2020. Milkins beat Robertson at the World Championship in 2013 and 2018 and scored another impressive victory over the 19-time ranking event winner, booking a second round meeting with Shaun Murphy or Jack Lisowski.
Australia’s Robertson looked set to take the opening frame until he missed a red to a top corner on 67. Milkins cleared superbly with 70 and then made a 116 to go 2-0 ahead. A run of 52 helped Robertson take frame three and he made a fine 87 clearance to win the fourth from 41-0 down.
But world number 43 Milkins regained the lead with an 84 then secured victory in frame six with a break of 41 which included an excellent pot on the penultimate red to a baulk corner.
“I played really well, I was fluent in the balls and scored well,” said the player nicknamed the Milkman. “I was very nervous at the start of the match but when Neil missed a red in the first frame and I managed to clear up, that was a big settler for me. Neil is a class player and you always have to play well to beat him because you don’t get many second chances. Today was the best I have played against him.”
Milkins revealed that he would prefer to play Murphy in round two, as he has a close relationship with fellow Gloucestershire cueman Lisowski.
“I have known Jack all of his life, I remember when he was five or six years old and he used to stand on a box to practise with me,” said Milkins. “I have watched him grow up. He used to come with me to tournaments before he turned pro just to keep me company, we would share a chalet together at Prestatyn. I have been like a father figure to him over the years.”
John Higgins put a new cue to good effect as he beat Xiao Guodong 4-2. After sharing the first two frames, Higgins won three of the next four with top runs of 59, 69 and 114. “I have only the had the cue for a two days but it feels good,” said Higgins. “Some of the shots I played felt very solid.”
Anthony McGill knocked in breaks of 108, 66, 80 and 73 as he beat Joe Perry 4-2. Barry Hawkins saw off Ricky Walden 4-1 with top runs of 90, 55, 66 and 112.
World Grand Prix Snooker 2020 Draw, Live Scores and Schedule of Play
Neil Robertson is the defending champion
The top 32 players on the one-year list compete for World Grand Prix glory, and you can follow all results and fixtures here.
The World Grand Prix field is comprised of the 32 most in-form players covering all ranked events from the past 12 months, up to the Scottish Open.
The World Grand Prix is the eighth ranking event of the season and part of a series which also includes the Players Championship and Tour Championship.
Neil Robertson claimed the title when the event was last staged in February this year, defeating Graeme Dott 10-8 in the final in Cheltenham.
Other former champions in action include Shaun Murphy, Barry Hawkins, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump.
Last Sunday’s Scottish Open winner Mark Selby makes a swift return to action alongside runner-up O’Sullivan, while Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson – who have also claimed silverware this season – are out to add to their tally.
Former World Champions John Higgins and Stuart Bingham are also eyeing silverware, alongside the likes of Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins and Ali Carter.
The tournament runs from December 14-20 behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
First Round and Second Round matches are to be contested over the best of seven frames, with Quarter-Finals best of nine, Semi-Finals best of 11 and the final best of 19.
World Grand Prix Snooker 2020 Schedule
Monday December 14
Round One
7pm
6 Barry Hawkins 4-1 Ricky Walden
16 Neil Robertson 2-4 Robert Milkins
8pm
10 Joe Perry 2-4 Anthony McGill
13 John Higgins 4-2 Xiao Guodong
Tuesday December 15
Round One
1pm
1 Judd Trump v Michael Holt
2 Li Hang v Stuart Bingham
2pm
4 Lu Ning v Robbie Williams
11 Ding Junhui v Jak Jones
7pm
5 Ronnie O’Sullivan v Ali Carter
7 David Grace v Yan Bingtao
8pm
3 Martin Gould v Mark Allen
8 Kyren Wilson v Kurt Maflin
Wednesday December 16
Round One
1pm
9 Mark Selby v Liang Wenbo
12 Zhou Yuelong v Hossein Vafaei
2pm
14 Jamie Jones v Zhao Xintong
15 Shaun Murphy v Jack Lisowski
Last 16
7pm
17 Winner of Match 1 v Winner of Match 2
18 Winner of Match 3 v Winner of Match 4
8pm
19 Winner of Match 5 v Barry Hawkins
20 Winner of Match 7 v Winner of Match 8
Thursday December 17
Last 16
1pm
21 Winner of Match 9 v Anthony McGill
22 Winner of Match 11 v Winner of Match 12
2pm
23 John Higgins v Winner of Match 14
24 Winner of Match 15 v Robert Milkins
Quarter-Finals
7pm
25 Winner of Match 17 v Winner of Match 18
26 Winner of Match 19 v Winner of Match 20
Friday December 18
Quarter-Finals
4pm
27 Winner of Match 21 v Winner of Match 22
28 Winner of Match 23 v Winner of Match 24
Semi-Final 1
6pm
29 Winner of Match 25 v Winner of Match 26
Saturday December 19
Semi-Final 2
7pm
30 Winner of Match 27 v Winner of Match 28
Sunday December 20
1pm & 7pm
Final
Prize Fund
Winner: £100,000
Runner-up: £40,000
Semi-Final: £20,000
Quarter-Final losers: £12,500
Last 16 losers: £7,500
Last 32 losers: £5,000 (prize money will not count towards rankings)
—————————
Highest break: £10,000
—————————
Total: £380,000
I have removed the link to the betting site to which WST directs people wanting to watch the event. The event is on ITV, it’s also streamed on the Matchroom.live platform, although, yesterday, only table 2 was available there. Why send viewers to a betting site, especially as they aren’t even the sponsors? Gambling addiction is already a huge issue in UK:
… Gambling addiction rates may be much higher than previously thought, according to research that also warns nearly half of those with a problem are not getting any help.
In a survey commissioned by the GambleAware charity, YouGov estimated that up to 2.7% of adults in Great Britain, or nearly 1.4 million people, were problem gamblers. Experts urged caution over the figure, insisting that the true addiction rate is likely to be closer to the health survey figures of 0.7% cited by industry regulator the Gambling Commission.
But the findings still indicate that the number of problem gamblers – defined as scoring more than eight on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) – may be significantly above current estimates. YouGov questioned 16,000 people for the survey.
The report also found that as many as 7% of adults, or 3.6 million people, report having been negatively affected by someone else’s gambling problem.
Overall, the research suggests that nearly 5 million British people have experienced harm linked to gambling, even accounting for the overlap between problem gamblers and those they affect.
…
But he said the higher figure could not be ruled out and added that previous research had probably “somewhat underestimated” addiction levels. The findings are likely to fuel calls for stronger measures to address gambling addiction, amid increased concern about the added risk posed to frequent gamblers isolated at home due to coronavirus.
Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who chairs a cross-party group of MPs examining gambling harm, said the report was “deeply concerning”.
“While the rate of 2.7% could well be an overestimate, the health survey data seems to be a significant underestimate. This new data suggests that addiction levels are far higher than has been previously thought.
“Policymakers, the regulator and gambling support services must take note of these important findings and ensure that the correct provision and regulation is in place to support gamblers in the UK.”
…
Why encourage an industry that causes so much harm? ah, yes, money…
Ronnie O'Sullivan 