Ronnie O’Sullivan turned his Premier League campaign around with a determined 4-2 over Mark Williams at the Penrith Leisure Centre to move from last to third spot in the table and give himself a realistic chance of making November’s play-offs.
With O’Sullivan in the unfamiliar position of being rooted to the foot of the table without a win, a strong performance was required if he was to maintain his long run of reaching the Premier League play-offs.
He started out well with a break of 98 and followed that up with a 78 to go 2-0 to the good, with Williams pointless. The Welshman, though, took the third as O’Sullivan gave away an opportunity to take the frame as he missed a red down the cushion.
‘The Rocket’ rolled in a 70 in the fourth to give himself a point but given his position in the league, only two points would do. That was guaranteed in the fifth frame when breaks of 39 and 50 secured the two points for O’Sullivan.
Williams took the final frame to keep himself in second spot, one above O’Sullivan, but it was the Chigwell cueman’s night and his play-off chances considerably improved with the win.
O’Sullivan was critical of his performance but happy with the victory; “I played alright when I was in the balls and was relaxed and that was good, to feel relaxed at table," he said.
“My long game wasn’t good though. I’ve not been able to pot long balls for last six or seven years so I’m relying on nous around the table and on people not playing well against me.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4 – 2 Mark Williams
99 (98) – 0; 123 (44, 78) – 0; 16 – 61 (47); 74 (70) – 38; 103 (39, 50) – 15; 4 – 78 (34, 40)
The second match of the evening saw Marco Fu win the first ever all-Chinese clash in the Premier League as he cruised past Ding Junhui 5-1 to leave himself in a strong position to qualify for next month’s play-offs.
By contrast, with his league programme now complete, Ding cannot reach the top four and is out of the competition.
Fu, a winner of this event in 2003, was too strong throughout and coupled with some bad misses from his opponent, it was plain sailing for the Hong Kong-based potter. It was Ding’s second heavy defeat in consecutive weeks – he lost 6-0 to Neil Robertson in Banbury.
Runs of 39, 44, 42 and 39 gave Fu the first two frames and he nicked the third with a break of 33 to seal a point. The second point came courtesy of a 94 break as Ding struggled. In fact by the close of the fourth frame Fu had potted 100 balls to Ding’s ten.
Ding put together a run of 71 to gain some respectability but Fu then delivered his first century of the competition in the final frame, a tasty 107, to run out a 5-1 winner.
“Toward the end I was relaxed and made the century but I got the two points which was the most important thing – the 100 was a bonus,” said Fu.
“I played very well without making any big breaks in the early stages. I made some good pots and put him under pressure and he didn’t pot a ball till the third frame.
“Maybe he’s taking the game too easy but he’s too good a player not to do well. Ding is having a bad run but there are so many tournaments so he won’t be too disappointed.”
Ding Junhui 1 – 5 Marco Fu
He started out well with a break of 98 and followed that up with a 78 to go 2-0 to the good, with Williams pointless. The Welshman, though, took the third as O’Sullivan gave away an opportunity to take the frame as he missed a red down the cushion.
‘The Rocket’ rolled in a 70 in the fourth to give himself a point but given his position in the league, only two points would do. That was guaranteed in the fifth frame when breaks of 39 and 50 secured the two points for O’Sullivan.
Williams took the final frame to keep himself in second spot, one above O’Sullivan, but it was the Chigwell cueman’s night and his play-off chances considerably improved with the win.
O’Sullivan was critical of his performance but happy with the victory; “I played alright when I was in the balls and was relaxed and that was good, to feel relaxed at table," he said.
“My long game wasn’t good though. I’ve not been able to pot long balls for last six or seven years so I’m relying on nous around the table and on people not playing well against me.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4 – 2 Mark Williams
99 (98) – 0; 123 (44, 78) – 0; 16 – 61 (47); 74 (70) – 38; 103 (39, 50) – 15; 4 – 78 (34, 40)
The second match of the evening saw Marco Fu win the first ever all-Chinese clash in the Premier League as he cruised past Ding Junhui 5-1 to leave himself in a strong position to qualify for next month’s play-offs.
By contrast, with his league programme now complete, Ding cannot reach the top four and is out of the competition.
Fu, a winner of this event in 2003, was too strong throughout and coupled with some bad misses from his opponent, it was plain sailing for the Hong Kong-based potter. It was Ding’s second heavy defeat in consecutive weeks – he lost 6-0 to Neil Robertson in Banbury.
Runs of 39, 44, 42 and 39 gave Fu the first two frames and he nicked the third with a break of 33 to seal a point. The second point came courtesy of a 94 break as Ding struggled. In fact by the close of the fourth frame Fu had potted 100 balls to Ding’s ten.
Ding put together a run of 71 to gain some respectability but Fu then delivered his first century of the competition in the final frame, a tasty 107, to run out a 5-1 winner.
“Toward the end I was relaxed and made the century but I got the two points which was the most important thing – the 100 was a bonus,” said Fu.
“I played very well without making any big breaks in the early stages. I made some good pots and put him under pressure and he didn’t pot a ball till the third frame.
“Maybe he’s taking the game too easy but he’s too good a player not to do well. Ding is having a bad run but there are so many tournaments so he won’t be too disappointed.”
Ding Junhui 1 – 5 Marco Fu
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