'A break we weren’t expecting!' – Ronnie O’Sullivan smashes glass during Hong Kong Masters final

Published 09/10/2022 at 12:48 GMT

The Hong Kong Masters final was briefly interrupted as cleaners cleared some broken glass from the floor after Ronnie O’Sullivan had inadvertently sent a drink plummeting to its demise. Fortunately, no harm was done as the record-breaking crowd of 9,000 spectators enjoyed a replay of the calamity. O’Sullivan and Fu were battling it for a top prize of £100,000 in Sunday’s showdown.

Crowd chuckle as O’Sullivan breaks glass during Hong Kong Masters final

Snooker is all about big breaks.

Unfortunately, Ronnie O’Sullivan took that a little too literally during his Hong Kong Masters final with Marco Fu after accidentally smashing a glass between frames.

After cleaning his cue ahead of the fourth frame, the Rocket sent his glass tumbling to the floor when putting his cloth back on his chairside table.

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“Ah, there’s been a break that we weren’t expecting,” jibed David Hendon on Eurosport commentary.

“Maybe a dustpan and brush will be called for. Someone’s going to have to come and sweep that up because obviously we can’t have broken glass in the arena.”

Two helpers quickly appeared to clear the damage, with the record-breaking crowd chuckling as a replay was shown on the big screen. Some 9,000 spectators were forecast to attend the final, the biggest audience for any snooker match in history.

It was an unusually engrossing pause between frames after Fu had earlier spotted his daughter in the crowd, prompting a very cute wave-off.

Fu spots daughter in crowd during Hong Kong Masters final

Fu’s playing time has been limited in recent seasons after having surgery to fix the vision in his left eye – a procedure that left him fearing for his snooker career – and Covid restrictions.

And the local icon admitted his 147 maximum break in Saturday's semi-final over John Higgins should have been “impossible” after spending so long in the snooker wilderness.

“It’s amazing. I still can’t believe what just happened," he said.

“The way I’ve been playing in the last two or three months, the calibre of the field in this tournament, and the atmosphere, it was impossible to do something like.

“I still can’t believe I just did something amazing. I’m just very happy that I’m playing pretty decent to be able to compete against the best players in the world.

“Beating Mark Selby, John Higgins, you can’t get any better than that. Making a 147 is kind of like a bonus.”

The winner of the tournament is set to scoop £100,000.