Snooker news - Ronnie O’Sullivan defends crazy miss and century snub at Scottish Open

Updated 11/12/2019 at 08:07 GMT

There were two major talking points as Ronnie O’Sullivan produced a typically unpredictable display in his first match at the Scottish Open.

Ronnie O'Sullivan scheitert beim UK Championship

Image credit: Getty Images

WHAT HAPPENED?

Ronnie O’Sullivan reached the second round of the Scottish Open with a 4-3 comeback win over Dominic Dale – but that fails to tell the whole story after two incidents punctuated an extraordinary match.

The 44-year-old eventually spluttered into action after losing the first two frames in Glasgow, making some marvellous pots as he charged towards a century break in the third.

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But as a ton loomed, he inexplicably decided to pot a red before the referee had returned the blue to the table – the second time he had been penalised for playing too quickly in the past fortnight. Still, he took the frame and halved the arrears.

The match was about to get stranger. O’Sullivan, now in a good rhythm, was primed to level at 2-2 after a sensational cannon on the final black moved it over the middle pocket. A simple pot beckoned.

Inexplicably, he blasted it into the jaws, sending the white careering off the table. The seven-point penalty gifted Dale the frame and moved the Welshman within one of victory.

However, anyone who thought O’Sullivan would disappear were mistaken. Runs of 64 and 80 drew him level at 3-3 – prompting a fist bump with his opponent ahead of the decider – before an 83 knock carried him through the oddest of battles.

'YOU’RE KIDDING ME' – COMMENTARY BOX STUNNED

Philip Studd, on Eurosport commentary duties, couldn’t believe what he was witnessing as the fourth frame reached its finale.

"Oh, you’re kidding me. He’s just blown the frame. Extraordinary," he said.

"Perhaps irritated that he fluked the cannon? I don’t know. Either way, he’s just gifted the frame. An early Christmas present for Dom [Dale] and he’s one away from victory at 3-1."

‘I WANTED TO BANANA IT IN’

O’Sullivan was whisked into the Eurosport studio to discuss his bizarre antics, insisting he intended the cannon that set up the frame-winning chance in the fourth frame and did not mean to miss the resulting shot.

"I wanted to banana it in," he said. "I just wanted to see if the pocket could take it. I knew I needed it [to win the frame].

"I thought there’s no way it can’t go in, but then the white jumped off the table. So there you go."

When pressed by Eurosport presenter Andy Goldstein over whether his antics were good for the game, O’Sullivan responded:

Not everyone’s going to enjoy everything. There are a lot of people who have enjoyed the way I play over the years. It’s a fine line to tread. There are going to be people who appreciate different types of snooker and that’s great. That’s why you have Prada and TK Maxx. You don’t have to buy at Prada, you can go down to TK Maxx and get yourself a nice Dunlop t-shirt if you’d like.

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