Ronnie O'Sullivan fights back to beat Mark Williams in Crucible classic
Ronnie O’Sullivan survived a scare as he fought back from 8-4 down to defeat Mark Williams in a quickfire, high-quality quarter-final at the World Snooker Championship on Tuesday night.
O’Sullivan, the new favourite to win the title after Judd Trump was knocked out by Kyren Wilson earlier in the day, had the run of the balls in the final session, which started with the two veterans locked at 8-8. Between them the pair have won the world crown eight times – O’Sullivan five, Williams three – and the snooker lived up to the billing. They traded frames to reach 10-10 but from there O’Sullivan pulled away to win three frames in a row for a 13-10 victory.
O’Sullivan then compared himself to a “fat Maradona”. He was once again far from satisfied with his performance and claimed only natural talent – like that possessed by former Argentina superstar – was sustaining his quest for a sixth career world title.
“I’m not hard on myself, I’m a realist,” he said. “I’m not doubting that I’ve got ability. What I’m good at I’m unbelievably good at: my scoring, my break building, my positional play. There will always be a little bit like ... Maradona. You look at him now, he’s big and fat but you put a ball at his feet and the geezer’s unbelievable – but he’s not fit enough to play against guys who haven’t got as much talent as him.
“It’s a little bit like snooker. You’ve got to have the long game and the safety and the cue action, you’ve got to have the reliability. I don’t believe you can win it being good or rubbish, and I’ve been good or rubbish. I just need to be steady. Otherwise it’s like trying to win the US Open with a five-iron in my bag.”
The Rocket will now face the Jester in the semi-finals after Mark Selby completed a comfortable 13-7 victory over Neil Robertson, the No 2 seed. The highly anticipated match-up is a repeat of the 2014 final, which Selby won 18-14 to claim his first world title.
O’Sullivan said: “I love Mark Selby, he’s my favourite guy on the circuit. He’s a proper lovely guy, funny as hell, but as a snooker player he’s a beast and the ultimate test, and I’m going to have to draw on every bit of skill and experience that I’ve got.”
Selby said he doubted he would return to the one-table set-up after he booked a semi-final spot for a sixth time. He endured a crisis of confidence in the wake of his third world title win in 2017, losing his world No 1 ranking as he won only two tournaments in the following two years. But the 37-year-old, who was forced to battle through the first two rounds against Jordan Brown and Noppon Saengkham, believes the manner of his win against fellow former champion Robertson indicates he is back to somewhere near his best.
Selby said: “Over the last 12 to 18 months I was questioning myself. I had got so used to winning tournaments then when I wasn’t winning tournaments it became very damaging to my confidence.
“I was happy with my performance against Neil. I felt if I got a chance I could score, and my safety play was back up with how it was a few years ago. As a match-play game it was right up there with my best performances. I can see the changes already, especially in my body language, so long may it continue.”
Trump, the defending champion, crashed out after a 13-9 defeat against the No 8 seed Wilson. In doing so Trump became the 18th player to endure the so-called “Crucible curse” where no first-time winner has retained the crown since the event moved to the venue in 1977.
Trump had shown signs of recovering from his 10-6 overnight deficit but Wilson seized on a missed long red by Trump to complete victory with a break of 104.
Trump then backed his conqueror to succeed him as world champion. “I think if Kyren plays like that he will be very tough to stop,” he said. “His long potting was brilliant over all three sessions and he is my pick to go on and win the title. He has taken a step up from when we played before and now it is all about me putting my foot back on the gas and get ready to try to improve to reach where he is at.”
Wilson said: “To make the one-table set-up is a big achievement and to get there by beating the defending champion and world No 1 makes it even sweeter. There’s no bitterness there, I’d just like to achieve what he’s achieved. I’m striving to get there and Judd’s already made it.”
In the battle of the qualifiers, the Scot Anthony McGill came through to record a 13-10 victory over Kurt Maflin. The Norwegian, superb in defeating David Gilbert and John Higgins in the first two rounds, could not reproduce that form and trailed 7-1 going into Tuesday’s final two sessions.
Maflin won five frames in the morning to pull it back to 10-6 but McGill, who beat Jack Lisowski and Jamie Clarke in final-frame deciders, was solid and held on to seal his maiden Crucible semi-final, where he faces Wilson.