Just like last year, Kyren Wilson proved to be too strong for Ronnie in Shanghai: he beat him by 6-4 in front of a good crowd.
Here is the report shared by WST:
Shanghai Masters Day Two
Defending champion Kyren Wilson got his season underway in earnest with a superb 6-4 win over seven-time Crucible King Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Shanghai Masters.
Wilson captured the title here in Shanghai 12 months ago, beating Ali Carter 11-9 in a fiercely contested final. The Warrior went on to win a momentous maiden Masters crown later on in the campaign. Despite those invitational successes, Wilson didn’t progress beyond the quarter-finals of any ranking events during the season.
Away from the table, he and his family have endured a difficult summer after their home was burgled. Wilson has brought his wife Sophie and children Finley and Bailey to Shanghai this week, and they were there to watch him produce an outstanding display against snooker’s greatest player.
With 34-year-old Wilson leading 3-1 at the mid-session interval, it was the Rocket who then came out flying. Three consecutive century runs of 100, 111 and 141 saw O’Sullivan wrest the lead from his English compatriot.
Wilson restored parity, before a sublime 79, with the balls in difficult positions, moved him to the verge at 5-4. He powered over the line with 97 in the tenth. Next up it is three-time World Champion Mark Williams, who overcame Chris Wakelin in a 6-5 thriller.
Wilson said: “It is always great playing in Shanghai and somebody of the class of Ronnie O’Sullivan. You know the crowd are going to come out in their numbers when he is playing. It inspires me and makes me want to play snooker. I have my kids with me and I wanted to show them how amazing snooker is out here. I hope they enjoyed that one.
“It has been really tough off the table, not just on me but on all of the family. That is life. You have to move on and you have to deal with it. Coming into this tournament it has been nice to just play snooker again and get that noise out of my head. It is never going to go away completely but playing in front of such a wonderful crowd in Shanghai makes you appreciate being a snooker player.“
Australia’s Neil Robertson won an epic clash with China’s Xiao Guodong 6-5 to seal his place in the quarter-finals.
The Thunder from Down Under was on the brink of falling at his first hurdle when he trailed Xiao, who made a stunning 147 in the third frame, by a 5-2 scoreline.
2010 World Champion Robertson dug deep and made breaks of 115 and 62 en route to sealing four consecutive frames and a narrow victory, earning a meeting with either Ding Junhui or Zhao Xintong.
Afterwards he elaborated on having created his own language to enable him to have a technical checklist in his cue case, which opponents won’t be able to read.
“It is like with golfers and swing thoughts. I have a little code where I write down a few things. If I miss a few long balls I’ll look at it and think what I’m not doing. Nobody has any chance of being able to decode that. It is a language that only I can understand,” said 44-year-old Robertson.
“I’ve played Ding quite a few times in China and Xintong was the player of the season last year. Ding will be motivated by the other Chinese players winning tournaments as well and want to stay with them. It is going to be a fantastic match between them.”
World number one Judd Trump beat Barry Hawkins 6-4 to set up a tie with either age-old rival John Higgins or close friend Jack Lisowski. The latter came through a first round meeting with Zhang Anda this morning, holding off a fightback and winning 6-4 after leading 5-0.
China’s Si Jiahui overcame Pang Junxu 6-4 and his reward is a showdown with compatriot and current World Champion Wu Yize, who will be making his first appearance since winning the sport’s biggest event back in May.
Here are the scores for Ronnie’s match
All the detailed results are on snooker.org as usual.
Bac to back centuries from Ronnie
And the last frame:
Both videos shared by WST on YouTube.
Unfortunately … I’m not surprised. Ronnie recently said that after two hours of practise he needs to rest for three hours. If that’s true, he’s not going to be able to stay at his best in longer matches. Today he made three consecutive centuries, then scored only ten points in the last three frames. Maybe I read too much in this outcome ? … or maybe not? What is obvious to me is that Ronnie isn’t physically fit at the moment. He’s has put weight on … too much of it. Staying fit becomes more difficult as one ages, it’s normal as the metabolism slows down, but … it’s not great. It certainly doesn’t help if you are a professional sportsperson.
Don’t get me wrong, Kyren is a top player and I’m not trying to downplay his merit. I’m just seeing a pattern forming … a pattern I don’t like. But then, no matter how hard we try or how much we want it, none of us can go on forever. Time waits for no one. At nearly 72, I know that only too well …
And Xiao Guodong made a 147 …
It’s Xiao fourth career 147. it came in frame 3. It’s the 246th maximum in professional snooker and already the fifth this season.
thank you for pointing out how fat Ronnie is. he even needed a new waistcoat. now that’s a problem…
unfortunately I don’t think he will be competitive as long as he continues the Dubai lifestyle. in my view moving there was a major mistake…
On the bright side, everything I’ve read seems to suggest that Ronnie is happily married and is enjoying his life away from snooker, perhaps more than he used to when snooker was a higher priority for him.
As a fan of his snooker I would like him to prioritize the game and to have more success, but it’s his right to choose to prioritize his life outside of snooker, and if that is in fact what he is doing and he is enjoying himself, then good for him.
the last thing he looks to me is happy
When did you ever see a snooker player looking happy after losing a match? Or when they don’t play well? And I’m not sure what you mean with “Dubai lifestyle”. If Ronnie was out in casinos and bars, night in, night out, you can be certain that the yellow press would have already reported it. Scandals and gossip are their bread and butter. What we do not know however, and have no right to know, is what is going on in his private life. Allow me to remind you that some time ago Laila revealed that she was suffering from a condition that has no cure. One she described as “not life threatening, but limiting her control over her body.” Very likely, living in Dubai where the climate is hotter than in the UK is better for her. What we also do not know is if Ronnie’s reduced schedule is, in part at least, motivated by his desire to stay at her side as much as he can when she is struggling.
Monique, Laila revealed on Instagram that the condition is a simple skin defect wherein she is losing some pigmentation. That’s it. It’s not an illness. It’s a cosmetic issue.
There is absolutely no denial that the Dubai move – which was also silly for geopolitical reasons as we now know – pretty much completely destroyed Ronnie’s competitive drive and his overall fitness.
We all know why rich people move to Dubai.
There is no hope for improvement unless he stops prioritizing tax benefits over a dignified career closure.
I think this is the key expression: dignified career closure. We are all happy that he is happy, even though I shudder at the Dubai-move. But if he wants to enjoy himself and snooker is too difficult at this age and fitness (or a lack thereof), it would be better to call it quits. It’s not fun for fans but especially can’t be fun for him. And doesn’t improve his reputation unfortunately.