Ronnie O'Sullivan stopped from quitting Welsh Open snooker by Rod Lawler's unique act of sportsmanship
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Published 16/02/2023 at 17:26 GMT
Rod Lawler brought a sense of calm to the Welsh Open on Wednesday night despite losing 4-0 to world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 32. O'Sullivan was ready to quit the event after his cue tip flew off, but Lawler refused to accept the concession before the match resumed after a brief interlude. Stream the Welsh Open, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.co.uk.
'It’ll probably come off again' - O'Sullivan on cue tip drama at Welsh Open
There is a memorable match, some might describe it as infamously hilarious, at the German Masters a decade ago that sums up the danger of throwing in the towel in professional sport before the mind has digested defeat.
Maltese speed merchant Tony Drago and Alan McManus, the 1994 Masters champion, no longer compete on the main professional snooker circuit, but the death throes of a qualifying contest won 5-4 by McManus in November 2012 remains a unique piece of snooker gold.
Trailing 65-41 on the final three colours, Drago manages to brilliantly produce the two snookers he requires to collect 11 points in fouls before sizing up an easy pot on a free ball pink, chasing blue, pink and black for victory.
He somehow misses the pink and watches as the white lands nicely on blue in baulk. Rather than let the studious Scotsman see out the match, Drago shakes hands in a state of childish annoyance before deciding that there is a bit more life in proceedings when he reflects on the pot McManus is left to seal victory.
Realising the error of his ways, he wonders if the match can continue, with Aussie referee Paul Cosgriff informing him that he faces a £250 fine for conceding while there are enough points on the table to win.
The match official asks McManus if he is happy to take the concession and he duly accepts, leaving Drago drowning in dejection.
Cutting an animated figure in the corner of the room, more Harold Lloyd than Dave Harold, he farcically slaps his head (see the end of the video clip below), clearly furious with his own act of self-harm.
We never quite reached such a heated theatrical stage of slapstick at the Welsh Open on Wednesday evening, but we were not far off a walk-out. The challenge of embracing mind over matter in sport continues to prompt some curious goings on during such unscripted, unsettling moments.
There is no doubt the world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was ready to quit the event after his tortuous cue tip left its hinges for the third time in two matches at Venue Cymru in Llandudno.
He survived the tip flying off against Ross Muir in a 4-3 win in the last 64 a day earlier, but was ready to depart the scene after the resin failed to hold up for a third time during the third frame against the unheralded world No. 114 Rod Lawler.
"I've tried to work more on my mental skills because I've neglected that quite a bit," O'Sullivan told Eurosport the day after the night before. "I'm just trying to mentally deal with it as well as I can. That's all you can do.
"I'm looking at it as a challenge. If it comes off again, I've just got to mentally get through it and reboot."
Uncertainty is an added burden. Leading 2-0 and on a 35 break, Rocket Ronnie looked crestfallen as the tip torpedoed off while the white splashed into the pack of reds.
An agitated O'Sullivan offered the match to Lawler, but his resignation tone was swiftly rejected by his opponent, who brought a sense of decorum to the goings on while referee Desislava Bozhilova retrieved the tip.
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'You couldn't make it up' - O'Sullivan's tip flies off again!
"Let's have a chat outside," said Lawler, calmly reassuring O'Sullivan the issue was a minor distraction and probably also aware that a large number of fans had paid good money in Llandudno to watch his opponent go to work, with or without a dodgy tip.
A bit more remedial work on the cue by tournament director Paul Collier enabled O'Sullivan to return to see out a 4-0 victory, inspired by breaks of 100, 62 and 58, against an opponent clearly struggling for form.
“I said to Rod you can have the match at 2-0,” confirmed O’Sullivan, who meets Ben Mertens in the last 16 on Thursday night needing to reach the final to keep alive his hopes of qualifying for the Players Championship in Wolverhampton next week.
“I said to Paul Collier there’s no point in me having to keep on coming here, keep putting tips on, I’m happy to give the match to Rod.
“I don’t think Rod wanted to play either. I felt for Rod, he’s a good lad.”
Lawler had said before the match he wanted to enjoy the occasion, it was only the third time he had faced O'Sullivan since 2000, but it was probably an experience akin to a dentist's check-up.
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O’Sullivan reveals he was ready to concede match to Lawler after further tip trouble
Like O'Sullivan's cue tip, Lawler's level of consistency was disjoined on the night with only 63 points mustered in four frames, but the likeable Liverpool player, who turned professional in 1990 and was as high as 20 in the world in 1996, is clearly a figure who takes more pride in performance than winning at all costs.
Embracing proper standards is doubly difficult when you are struggling for peak form, but sport is not all about the W.
Sometimes you earn much more in adversity than victory.
Call it basic human decency or a selfless act of sportsmanship, Lawler's noble conduct should not be lost in defeat.
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'Wow!' - O'Sullivan smashes into reds and pots another to make a century
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