Ronnie’s tonic as Liang falters

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN came back from the dead last night to keep his hopes of a record seventh Masters title alive. A spluttering Rocket, suffering with a virus, was gifted a lifeline back into the tournament when Liang Wenbo missed a black for the match. And ‘Lazarus’ O’Sullivan, 41, leapt on the error to level at 5-5 before making a break of 121, the 851st century of his career, to clinch a thrilling 6-5 victory. Liang’s moment to forget came when leading 5-4, and he twitched badly as he attempted to pot the final black along the cushion. A relieved O’Sullivan, who now heads into the quarter-finals of the £600,000 event at Alexandra Palace, said: ‘I feel gutted for Liang, to be honest. I didn’t deserve to win, and was there for the taking. ‘I was one ball away from defeat and was sitting there thinking I can go and get myself well, and have some Lemsip. ‘I was not feeling well out there, tired, lethargic and shaking — it is a bug going around and I have had it about a month. ‘Everyone seems to be ill, it is just something that happens in November, December and January. ‘But I have been there missing match ball so I feel sorry for him, he is a good lad that I have tried to help with his game in the past. ‘I just hung in there and got lucky in the end. It would be a good achievement if I could get out there on my own on seven Masters titles. ‘But if it doesn’t happen this year then it could happen the year after, or the year after that. Maybe I will play until I am 50!’ Liang said: ‘It was a lack of experience on the black. I took it too quickly, and didn’t really like the angle. ‘There is a lot of pressure out there in front of 2,000 fans who are all on Ronnie’s side and want you to miss.’ O’Sullivan led 4-2, having made breaks of 55, 89 and 80. But Liang, who had breaks of 109, 65 and 83, roared back with three frames in a row to put himself on the brink.