World Snooker Championship 2022 - Ronnie O'Sullivan on the brink of victory over Mark Allen after dominant display
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Updated 22/04/2022 at 20:32 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan edged closer to the quarter-finals of the World Championship at the Crucible on Friday. The Rocket dominated the opening session and continued that dominance when returning on Friday evening. The players will return on Saturday to conclude the match. Watch the World Championship and other top snooker live on Eurosport and discovery+.
'What he's famed for' - McManus breaks down O'Sullivan's unique play
Ronnie O’Sullivan produced a second commanding session to retain total control of his World Championship last-16 clash with Mark Allen.
O’Sullivan seized control of the contest on Friday morning, and kept his foot on his opponent’s throat in ruthless fashion to hold a 12-4 lead overnight in the race to 13.
There was the prospect of O’Sullivan repeating the feat of Mark Williams and finishing his match with a session to spare, but Allen knocked in a ton in the 14th frame to ensure the contest would conclude on Saturday.
Allen required a good start and he got one in the opener of the evening, but only after O’Sullivan missed the final red down the bottom rail.
The Northern Irishman got in the balls again in the 10th following a rare O’Sullivan safety error. Inexplicably he missed a simple pink - there won’t be many easier pots missed all tournament - and O’Sullivan made him pay with a break of 93.
Trailing by four frames, Allen needed a lot to go well. In the third frame of the session, the exact opposite happened as he potted an excellent long red only to see the cue ball feather another red and drop into the yellow pocket.
From there, it was poetry from O’Sullivan as he stroked in a long red and picked off a break of 67 to extend his advantage to five frames.
The fans in the Crucible were on the edge of their seats in the frame before the interval as O’Sullivan raised the prospect of a 147 - 25 years on from his record-breaking maximum - when picking off 11 reds and 11 blacks. He ran out of position on the 12th, and the double failed to drop. The consolation for the Rocket was a six-frame lead.
The advantage became seven in the frame after the interval, with Allen leaving a black from a tight angle in the jaws of the bottom left and O’Sullivan cleared with a 53 to turn the screw yet further.
With the prospect of being beaten with a session to spare, Allen showed his class by knocking in his 50th century at the Crucible to head off that prospect.
Allen said he wanted to get under O’Sullivan’s skin and he had a chance to place a tiny seed of doubt when getting in first in the 15th, but he ran out of position on 49 and later lost a safety battle.
O'Sullivan punished the error with a clean red to the bottom right and cleared the colours to move 11-4 to the good.
In what was an uncomfortable theme for Allen, he got in early in the 16th but broke down and was punished.
After running out of position, O’Sullivan rectified the situation with a stunning red to the right middle and he powered through a break of 100 to move to within one frame of the winning line.
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