The most exciting thing about snooker sometimes is how predictable a match will be, only to find it swung on it’s head in the space of one or two shots.
Before the match between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Marco Fu tonight, most people including the “experts” would have highly backed Ronnie to win comfortably. That being said, O’Sullivan was playing brilliantly in his previous matches and Fu playing his B game all week, so making the early prediction that O’Sullivan would win was justified.
O’Sullivan did well to get a 3-1 lead going into the interval, as he was missing some easy balls by his standards and a pot success of only 78%.
After the interval, Fu came straight out and knocked in a ton. O’Sullivan then increased his lead again to lead 4-2.
Fu took the next three frames on the bounce to put himself in front of O’Sullivan and only requiring one more frame to win the match.
But this is where the real drama began…
With O’Sullivan trailing by 1 frame and Fu only needing to win 1 frame, a few silly misses from O’Sullivan gifted a perfect opportunity to Fu. In prime position and 20 points ahead, Fu had the most unlucky kick imaginable on a simple red which made him miss.
O’Sullivan potted a few reds to catch up and surpass Fu, but another silly miss from O’Sullivan gifted another chance for Fu to try claim victory. Fu made life difficult for himself by leaving himself awkward on the green, which he missed and rattled where it hung over the pocket for O’Sullivan to win the frame and force the decider in this great snooker match.
In the deciding frame, Fu went for a long red, missed it and the rest is history. Ronnie O’Sullivan cleared the entire table with a break of 130 as he found form in the final frame, as he’s done so many times in the past. Final score of this classic snooker match was 6-5 O’Sullivan.
In his post match interview O’Sullivan said;
“I don’t know how i held myself together – you just find something.
“I stayed focused and professional and did not beat myself up.”
O’Sullivan then went on to talk about the final tomorrow between himself and World No.1 Mark Selby;
“I will be the underdog tomorrow.
“I will have to go out there and be professional and patient.”
A disappointed Marco Fu was gracious in defeat to O’Sullivan. He said;
“Ronnie was too good on the day. I put him under pressure but it was not good enough.”
Tomorrow’s final will be a classic snooker match between the two biggest names in snooker at the moment. If you Ronnie O’Sullivan produces what we know he can, then he could possibly win a sixth title here at the UK Championships.
