Ronnie O'Sullivan on 147 nerves: 'My back arm was like a bit of fish, flapping all over the gaff'
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Updated 17/10/2018 at 14:33 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan has told Eurosport that his 147 break at the English Open was a nervous affair.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Image credit: Eurosport
The maximum was the 15th of O'Sullivan's remarkable career, and the 42-year-old said he knew it was on from the first red.
"I did think about it from the first red, because I thought 'I've got to try and do something from this match, to get myself excited' – I was going for it," Ronnie said, before explaining that he was far more nervous than it looked during the clearance.
From about 40-odd I was in bits, I was twitching all over the place. My back arm was like a bit of fish, you know, flapping all over the gaff. And then obviously they’ve all gone quiet, like it’s nice when they keep playing, but they stopped playing just to watch the match. I thought ‘ah that’s the worst thing you can do, just carry on playing, make some noise, do something’, cos when it went too quiet you feel like the pressure’s on you even more. I didn’t even fancy potting that black to be honest with you, I was feeling it.
O'Sullivan had been outspoken about the venue for the English Open earlier in the week, but said he was happy to have put on a show for the tournament.
"It was nice to put on a break like this for a Eurosport event," O'Sullivan said. "I’m not going to sit here and really go deep on you like I used to; I’m just trying to keep it fresh and just trying to keep it as upbeat as I can, but this is about as upbeat as I can get at the moment. I’m doing my best to not pour my heart and soul out to everybody."
But despite serving up a 147, O'Sullivan said neither he nor his opponent enjoyed a good day on the baize.
"I felt sorry for Allan out there, because you could see he was struggling - he's a much better player than that," O'Sullivan said. "I think the conditions and just being out on the TV table got to him a bit. I got a bit fortunate earlier on, I missed you a few balls – we both did, we both never really played well. It was just that my bad was a bit better than his bad, you know."
O’Sullivan will play either Jimmy White or Matthew Stevens in the third round.
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