Ronnie beat Wu Yize by 5-1 yesterday afternoon withoutbeing anywhere near his best until the very last frame.

Here are the scores:

And the very short report by WST:

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s 5-1 scoreline over Wu Yize flattered the Rocket somewhat as his opponent had chances in most of the frames. But Chinese tour rookie Wu couldn’t take advantage and O’Sullivan progressed to round four where he will face Ashley Hugill.

From 1-1, six-time World Champion O’Sullivan took the third frame with a break of 51 then both the fourth and fifth on the final black to lead 4-1. He rounded off the match with his best moment, a break of 112.

Eurosport though provided an “as it happened” detailed report:

…

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN BEATS WU YIZE 5-1!

And he finishes it with a ton, before stopping to encourage Wu and debrief. He meets Ashley Hugill next.

O’SULLIVAN 4-1 WU (70-16)

This is Vintage Ronnie, picking off reds and colours to see himself home. Wu will be a player, I think – though he’ll need to sort his cue-ball control – and woill go to bed feeling radge with the chances he missed, but proud with how close he made the frames, if not the score.

O’SULLIVAN 4-1 WU (15-16)

In again, Wu loses the white so can’t address the pink; he redeems himself with a good long blue, but this behaviour isn’t sustainable and shonuff, right as my SkyGo quits, he misses and Ronnie is back at the table. This looks a lot like curtains.

O’SULLIVAN 4-1 WU

Yup, Ronnie eliminates what’s left to steal his second straight frame on the black, and Wu will be feeling very poorly. He should be bang in this match, but instead it’s nearly over.

O’SULLIVAN 3-1 WU (27-61)

Oh Wu! He misses a black off its spot trying to take the white in and out of baulk, when he really didn’t need to – it was frame-ball. If he’d made sure to make the pot, or planned to wind up near the bottom cushion, he’d be in business. But what’s going to happen now is that Ronnie will clear up and go three up with four to play.

O’SULLIVAN 3-1 WU (4-46)

No matter. Wu gets in again, and already 30 points in front, should clinch the frame at this visit.

O’SULLIVAN 3-1 WU (4-32)

Wu runs out of position on 31, then on his next visit unloads the suitacase at a red, a double kiss follows … and he’s been lucky. A tight snick to the green pocket is all Ronnie has on, he misses, and Wu again sinks a red only to lose the white.

O’SULLIVAN 3-1 WU (0-11)

Wu misses a long red by a distance but gets lucky, leaving nowt, and when Ronnie’s forced to knock the same ball away from the pocket, he doesn’t get enough on the white, marooned in the middle of the table and with a red to right corner on.

WE GO AGAIN

O’SULLIVAN 3-1 WU

That’s gonnae sting. Ronnie strokes the black into left-middle, and it’ll be a long, lonely interval for Wu.

O’SULLIVAN 2-1 WU (58-63)

Oh, Wu! He rattles home a difficutl yellow and Ronnie applauds – imagine that, 18 years old! – then overcuts the green! The black is on the side, but Ronnie has the perfect angle to disturb it, and plays the shot beautifully.

O’SULLIVAN 2-1 WU (40-61)

Wu clips in the final red but, on nowt, faces a tricky safety with no balls available for him to push safe. He needs to the greeb, while Rnonie needs everything.

O’SULLIVAN 2-1 WU (40-60)

The first, he just gets behind and slots, but the second ends up on the side, and though he knowcks it off, it’ll need a fine cut to send it down … or not. Ronnie plays safe now back in the frame, and the difference between 3-1 and 2-2 at the mid-sesh is chasmic – enough to tell us whether we’ll see a match or not, I’d say.

O’SULLIVAN 2-1 WU (17-60)

Oh Wu! With 75 left and the lead 60, he undercuts a pink into the far middle knuckle, and if he can seize the frame, he’ll be a long way towards seizing the match. There are two reds on black cush, but of the sort you can see being developed without too much hassle.

O’SULLIVAN 2-1 WU (0-27)

Anyhow, Ronnie misses another long pot – he’s 0/6 today! – but gets away with it. Not for long. Wu clunks home a middle-distance red, but with pink and black tied up he’s got plenty work to do. Except have a look! He rams in another red, cannons a second, and the black goes to both pockets! This is a phat chance.

O’SULLIVAN 2-1 WU

Has Wu missed his chance? There were signs in the back end of that frame that Ronnie is growing into this.

O’SULLIVAN 1-1 WU (61-22)

Thirty ahead with 35 left, Rnonie plays safe because he can’t get at the final red. But Wu, who’ll already be rueing missed chances, double kisses; it doesn’t look like he’s left it but he has, the thinnest snick sending it into the yellow pocket, and that’s 2-1.

O’SULLIVAN 1-1 WU (33-22)

Wu misses a red wildly, and Ronnie is quickly about the table potting balls. There’s a red on the side cushion that he’ll need, but he’ll have a handy lead by the time he comes to it.

O’SULLIVAN 1-1 WU (1-22)

But when he runs out of position, a poor safety allows Ronnie to glide in a terrific opener … but again, he misses the black! It’s not a gimme like the ones he missed yesterday were, a delicate little cut-back from near the cushion, but it ought to have gone down. Lot of buts here, so here’s another: Wu gets in, but instead of playing on the pink, tries to work a tiny gap for a black along the rail, and the kiss doesn’t allow it. He’s letting chances slip through his fingers here.

O’SULLIVAN 1-1 WU (0-13)

Ronnie lookes bemused after missing a long pot by a distance, and Wu has to cash in – the biggest win of his life does not look an impossibility.

O’SULLIVAN 1-1 WU

Wu will be smelling a chance here, because Ronnie hasn’t settled.

O’SULLIVAN 1-0 WU (29-59)

Wu misses with two hacks to left corner, but then with the red in the middle of the baulk cushion and the brown not far in front of it, he has Ronnie stuck behind the black, almost dead opposite. Ronnie gets really close, twice, but the second foul-miss leaves Wu a simple chance, and this will be 1-1.

O’SULLIVAN 1-0 WU (29-44)

But dropping in a starter on the stretch, he brings back the white to the only place on the table he can’t get at a colour! This game! So here comes Wu, who adroitly removes balls until he has to drop on the final red, marooned on the top cushion, and gives it too little, almost snookering himself. He can only play safe, and the chase is on!

O’SULLIVAN 1-0 WU (28-9)

But now comes another mistake, a black overcut to right corner! He did that a lot yesterday too, though his lucky here to leave nothing. This is now another scrappy frame, but whoever gets innext will expect to clear up, given the whereabouts of the balls … and Wu misses a tester to right middle that leaves it for Ronnie!

O’SULLIVAN 1-0 WU (20-9)

Left a red to send long to the green pocket, Ronnie eyes it up pensively, wondering what migh tbe available if he misses; he does, and Wu sends it down, then on nowt, snuggles in behind the brown. Ronnie, though, escapes easily enough, and left a thin red sees it away. He’s warming up.

O’SULLIVAN 1-0 WU (8-8)

Ronnie leaves a starter and Wu gobbles it, then makes his way back up the business end via the green …only to go in-off, again, slotting another red! He has a laugh about it, but what an absolute nause. All the more so when he finds himself struggling to make a thin contact, ceding two fouls in the process, but when he hits he leaves nowt.

O’SULLIVAN 1-0 WU

A scrappy first frame, but with more than enough about it to suggest we’re in a for a decent tussle.

O’SULLIVAN 0-0 WU (40-29)

On my days, Ronnie misses a simple pink, the like of which he also missed yesterday. Looking again, he maybe got a kick, but even so, that should probably’ve gone down. But then poor old Wu goes in-off trying to come up the table off the blue and, after some protest from Ronnie, cedes a free ball. That might be the frame, though the final red is a tester, parallel with black cush … and Ronnie bangs it home like it’s nowt.

O’SULLIVAN 0-0 WU (2-23)

Hello! Ronnie goes hard at a long red, over left corner, catches the wrong side of it, and watches as it leaps offf the table and onto the carpet. On which point, why do snooker players wear shoes? Thye’re indoors, who wears shoes indoors? Anyhow, Wu picks out a fine cut from middle to left corner … only to jaws a yellow! That is a significant oversight, leaving Ronnie a simple starter and who knows what else.

O’SULLIVAN 0-0 WU (0-23)

Wu looks as confident as you’d expect an 18-year-old with prodigious talent to look, working his way onto the black. But in the process of sinking it, he misses a cannon on the pack and loses the white, so that’s end of break.

O’SULLIVAN 0-0 WU (0-4)

Ronnie tries to send a red down the side rail to left corner, but it doesn’t want ta kna, and Wu takes the opportunity to paste home a long one to the same pocket, cannoning the black in the process. But the bounce is unkind and he’s not on it as planned, so will have to work out a safety. It’s not a great one, offering Ronnie another chance, almost the full length of the table, and again he misses, overcutting and leaving Wu in. This time, he won’t be getting away with a one-point punishment.

…

Ronnie was far from his best and will need to improve to beat Ashley Hugill, a player whose pedestrian pace will not suit him. One thing he did really well yesterday though was taking his chances to come from behind and steal the frames whenever he got the opportunity.  It was nice to see Ronnie take some time to speak with Yu after the match.

This is the last frame of the match, shared by Eurosport: