'Incredible!' - Disbelief at 'crazy' situation in Ronnie O'Sullivan v Stephen Maguire World Championship game
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Updated 26/04/2022 at 10:38 GMT
Eurosport's Neal Foulds was among those who could not quite believe what they were watching with the positioning of the balls during the World Championship quarter-final between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Maguire. "This is why snooker is great, isn't it?" Foulds exclaimed on commentary. "How can those three balls be up there?! I've never seen them like that before, I don't think!"
'I've never seen them like that before' - O'Sullivan v Maguire frame gets strange
There was disbelief over the positioning of the balls during the opening frame of Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Maguire's quarter-final at the World Championship.
Maguire held a 41-6 lead early on in the first frame of the match with the tension in the Crucible palpable for the last-eight clash in Sheffield.
That was when the Scot was confronted with a bizarre layout of balls on the table from O'Sullivan with five reds pinned to the same side cushion.
But that was not it. Somehow, the blue, green and brown were all clustered over the top-right corner pocket next to each other, making the situation all the more perplexing.
Neither player knew quite what to do. Maguire rolled a half-hearted safety off a red with the white flying back up to baulk and pushing the green right next to the pocket without committing a foul.
Next up, O'Sullivan hit the only open-table red into the pack lodged up against the side cushion, leaving all six effectively out of play while also clipping the green and pushing it closer to the corner pocket.
"Oh! Where are all these balls going to end up?" wondered Eurosport expert Neal Foulds, on commentary at the time.
"This is why snooker is great, isn't it? How can those three balls be up there?! I've never seen them like that before, I don't think!
"Green, brown and blue all next to each other at the top-right pocket. Incredible!
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"Now, what is going to happen here? Goodness me! They are still there. A crazy game, it can be, sometimes.
"This is an incredible frame! The colours are where they are. I would not know where to start."
Eventually, keen to put an end to the farcical situation, O'Sullivan potted the green and fouled at the same time as the cue ball rolled into the middle pocket.
Maguire was able to see out the frame, having already built a solid lead, as O'Sullivan decided to concede when 61-8 down.
It is the fifth occasion in O’Sullivan’s illustrious career that he has occupied the world No. 1 ranking, and the first time since 2019, as he continues his pursuit of a record-equalling seventh world title.
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