Ronnie O'Sullivan sends cue ball 'flying up in the air' with bizarre long pot at World Snooker Championship
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Published 24/04/2024 at 15:58 GMT
Nothing is ever boring or simple with Ronnie O'Sullivan, and the snooker legend had the crowd gasping and applauding once more on Wednesday during his World Championship first-round match against Wales' Jackson Page. The 48-year-old found some of his best form of late with a superb early onslaught that included one very strange pot with the cue ball sent flying up in the air in unusual fashion.
'Flying up in the air!' - O'Sullivan somehow still pots with bizarre shot
Ronnie O'Sullivan produced some magical snooker in the afternoon session of his match against Jackson Page in the first round of the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre on Wednesday.
The Rocket certainly did not need to ease himself into the tournament as he got off to an electrifying start in Sheffield and raced through the opening five frames before Page could gather himself at all.
At the start of the sixth frame, O'Sullivan got away with a wild shot that somehow still went his way as the crowd showed their delight.
The cue ball flew up in the air, leaving the surface of the table but without crossing the cushions, as O'Sullivan drained a long red with real extravagance.
"Even better!" exclaimed Neal Foulds on commentary for Eurosport at the time.
"He is on the black, of course. The cue ball left the table and it went flying up in the air!
"It was more by accident than design."
It certainly did not seem to be on purpose, although with O'Sullivan there will likely be some who claim it was just another stroke of genius.
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O'Sullivan prepared to go 'beyond the distance' again to win World Snooker Championship
The sixth frame went on to be a pretty scrappy tussle in comparison to those before it in the one-sided encounter, but O'Sullivan still took it to establish a commanding lead in his opener.
The 48-year-old is targeting an outright record eighth World Championship title in this year's edition of the iconic event to pull away from fellow legend Stephen Hendry's tally of seven.
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