World Snooker Championship: Ronnie O'Sullivan retains four-frame lead over Luca Brecel despite second-session struggles
Updated 25/04/2023 at 21:54 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan found the going tough in the second session of his World Championship quarter-final with Luca Brecel at the Crucible. The world No. 1 worked a 6-2 advantage in the opening session of the contest on Tuesday morning. He was short of his best once again in the evening, but he did enough to retain his advantage and will now take a 10-6 lead into Wednesday.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan was given a serious examination by Luca Brecel on Tuesday evening, but emerged relatively unscathed as he shared the session to secure a 10-6 lead in their World Championship quarter-final.
Despite being short of his best, O’Sullivan eked out a 6-2 lead in the opening session. Returning on Tuesday evening, Brecel played on the front foot and had his opponent in trouble on occasions.
But O’Sullivan kept fighting and cashed in on enough of Brecel’s errors to move within three frames of a place in the semi-finals.
The Belgian began the second session positively. An excellent safety from Brecel forced a chance and as in the first frame of the match, he raced through a rapid break of 128 to get up and running in the evening.
The second was blighted by errors, with most of them coming from the cue of O’Sullivan - and Brecel cleared the colours to take the second frame of the evening.
O’Sullivan spoke before the match about Brecel’s ability to race through frames at speed and take matches away from opponents.
When Brecel was in again in the 11th it felt like the match was turning around. But for all the talent the Belgian has, he also has mistakes in him. He was unfortunate to run out of position on a break of 39, but shortly afterwards missed a red and left a chance for O’Sullivan.
The seven-time champion needed a settler, and he steadied the ship with a break of 68.
The 68 break did not release the handbrake, but it halted Brecel’s momentum and O’Sullivan restored his four-frame lead when taking the 12th.
O’Sullivan looked good on a break of 40, but ran out of position - much to his frustration as he rammed his cue on the floor. He kept his cool by laying a good safety, which Brecel took some time over before simply throwing his cue in a hit-and-hope move.
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It did not work out too badly, but O’Sullivan got in again shortly afterwards to take the frame.
Brecel cut the gap to three again when taking the 13th, but had a slice of fortune on his side.
He broke down on 58 to invite a counter from O’Sullivan who got back into the frame but was unable to develop the final red.
O’Sullivan was in charge of the safety exchange, but Brecel got a huge slice of luck when finding an inadvertent snooker. O’Sullivan did not make the escape and crucially left the red on for Brecel to pot it and clinch the frame.
The defending champion was not firing on all cylinders, and a sloppy break off in the 14th handed Brecel a chance he gobbled up with a break of 81 to get back within two.
Both players had chances in the 15th and also enjoyed slices of luck. Brecel fluked a snooker when in a snooker - as he again went down the hit-and-hope route. Later in the safety exchange, O’Sullivan played a two-cushion escape on the yellow and potted it in the right middle, and it got him over the line.
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Having been short of his best and looking wobbly on occasions, O’Sullivan produced some of his best play of the evening in the final frame of the session.
O’Sullivan got in a couple of times, only to fail to get a good split of the balls. On each occasion, he kept his cool and played a sensible, effective safety.
There was frustration on O'Sullivan’s face as Brecel played hit-and-hope shots and kept falling safe. After dodging a number of bullets, Brecel’s luck ran out as a poor shot with the rest presented his opponent with the chance to restore his four-frame advantage.
O’Sullivan did exactly that, and will return on Wednesday afternoon with a 10-6 lead in the race to 13.
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O'Sullivan ends session in style to assume four-frame lead over Brecel
The quality was not top-drawer on the adjoining table as well, with Mark Allen and Jak Jones scrapping it out to finish all square at 8-8.
Jones had his worst session of the championship, but somehow emerged unscathed to take four of the eight frames.
The Welshman was under the cosh at 7-7, as Allen had a 52-point lead and put his opponent in a snooker. Jones went for the glancing escape, but got it all wrong. The contact was so thick, it sent the red into the right middle and he cleared to edge ahead.
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To his credit, Allen - who was also a long way below his best - responded with a break of 61 in the final frame to split the session.
Allen and Jones will play to a finish on Wednesday morning.
O’Sullivan opens up early lead
O’Sullivan motored into a commanding 6-2 lead over Luca Brecel in the morning session of their World Championship quarter-final at the Crucible.
O’Sullivan made the last eight after cruising past Hossein Vafaei, but knew Brecel would provide him with a much more difficult challenge.
The Belgian came into this contest in confident mood too after dispatching Mark Williams with ease, and he carried on that momentum here in a superb first frame.
Ronnie was rocked after Brecel drew first blood with a hugely-impressive break of 93 in which he averaged a shot every 12 seconds.
He was agonisingly close to claiming a century, only to miss the final red in an otherwise faultless frame for The Belgian Bullet.
The next frame saw O'Sullivan bounce back to his very best and he took it courtesy of breaks of 56 and 51.
Both players' aggressive style made for an absorbing watch, and Brecel was clearly undeterred by the setback after taking the next frame 80-4 with a break of 68. Arguably the shot of the frame came when the Belgian clattered a yellow long, across the table to its own pocket, leaving Brecel ahead again at 2-1.
O'Sullivan levelled up the score again in a thrilling conclusion to the fourth frame, as The Rocket was left to clear up the table after Brecel missed a shot with the cue ball snookered behind the black. It showed the strength of O'Sullivan's safety game and questioned whether Brecel could match it.
The answer to that question looked to be ‘no’ after O’Sullivan won a scrappy-looking frame 73-23 with a break of 59, as Brecel failed to get the snooker required.
It looked like Brecel had lost confidence as O'Sullivan won the sixth frame with a break of 128 as the world No. 1 was starting to purr.
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O'Sullivan then moved 5-2 ahead in a pulsating seventh frame to win it 65-52 with a break of 58. It would be a heart-breaking moment for Brecel, who just needed to send a pink to the left corner, only to leave it on the lip. The Rocket had a three-frame advantage, but it could have been oh-so-different for the Belgian.
The signs were looking ominous when O'Sullivan claimed a fourth frame on the trot with a break of 85 to take a commanding 6-2 lead from the morning session.
Meanwhile, Mark Allen and Jak Jones are playing out a gripping quarter-final with the scores level at 4-4 after their first session.
The game started in an aggressive fashion, with Jones and Allen claiming breaks of 78 and 94 respectively to tie things off at 1-1 after two frames.
Allen was agonisingly close to registering a maximum break in the third game after prevailing 137-0 to move 2-1 in front, and this intriguing contest and ebbed and flowed both ways from there on.
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