Ronnie O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson level after session of outrageous class in Tour Championship semi-final

ByDan Quarrell

Published 01/04/2022 at 14:44 GMT

Ronnie O'Sullivan's semi-final against Neil Robertson at the Tour Championship always seemed destined to be a classic, and so it proved - at least it was in the afternoon session. The Rocket rattled off four quite brilliant breaks to stamp his authority on the match, only for Robertson to battle back in impressive fashion ahead of the evening session in Llandudno, Wales.

Ronnie O'Sullivan was very close to his majestic best as he roared into an early lead in his Tour Championship semi-final against Neil Robertson, but the Australian hit back superbly to level at 4-4 after the afternoon session.

The Rocket was unrelenting in his inspired play in the early part of the afternoon session as he compiled breaks of 125, 90, 106 and 128 to take what appeared to be total command.

However, the Melbourne potter responded quite magnificently to haul his way back into the contest and leave it all-square ahead of what should be an enthralling evening of top-class snooker.

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Robertson started off with a break of 115 to demonstrate that he was ready to roll in the hotly-anticipated last-four clash in Llandudno, Wales.

The Australian was then left to sit rigidly in his chair as O'Sullivan turned it on in a big way to seize control of the encounter.

Quite remarkably, at the start of the sixth frame, Robertson had gone 61 minutes without potting a single ball as O'Sullivan took four dominant frames in succession.

But do not mistake Robertson's drought for poor play on his part; O'Sullivan simply stormed clear with a series of quite brilliant breaks.

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The Thunder from Down Under did manage to respond in the sixth frame to reduce the deficit as he rattled in a break of 62 and suddenly it seemed the match could shift back.

Indeed, Robertson continued in that way as he followed it with breaks of 85 and 95 to leave the match level ahead of the evening.

One thing was made abundantly clear after the afternoon of snooker: whoever comes out on top in this battle will have to be at their very best.

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