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Ronnie O’Sullivan is through to the semi-finals of the UK Championship after a hard-fought 6-5 win over China’s Zhou Yuelong.
Zhou was on the brink of victory as he stormed back from 4-2 down to lead 5-4 and move within one frame of a first ever win over The Rocket.
O’Sullivan, who becomes the first player to win 100 UK Championship matches, will play Hossein Vafaei in the semi-finals.
O’Sullivan had won all four of his previous meetings against Zhou, and it did not take long for him to assert his authority on this clash.
The Rocket drew first blood with a superb clearance of 125 after Zhou missed a long-red, and the world No. 1 successfully utilised as the red-blue combination to claim the opening frame.
He edged out a tetchier second frame after potting a red to the bottom left, ending on a break of 68 after landing a pink to the middle right pocket and taking care of the free reds.
Zhou was left needing a snooker that did not materialised, as O’Sullivan capped things off with another red in that bottom left pocket.
The world No. 1 showed his class to extend his lead at 3-0 by taking care of a difficult-looking table, with a superb double on a red towards the middle right pocket.
He then landed a long black into the green pocket to finish with a clearance of 47, and Zhou surrendered the frame when he committed a foul with two reds left on the table.
Any hopes of a Ronnie whitewash were extinguished though, as Zhou capitalised on a missed long red and started his run to reducing the deficit with a green to the yellow pocket.
After securing the final red, he was cleared to take a crucial break of 29 after clearing up to the brown.
Relief for O’Sullivan as red squeezes into pocket much to delight of York crowd
O’Sullivan extended his lead with a break of 60, which ended with a failed attempt to land a red to the top left pocket, and the writing appeared to be on the wall for Zhou.
O’Sullivan landed a sensational brown to put him in prime position behind the red, but missed another as it rattled the jaws of the top pocket.
Zhou seized his chance and reduced the deficit to two by brilliant using a red-pink combination, as a rather forlorn O’Sullivan stayed in his seat to concede the frame.
With just the colours left on the table, Zhou cut O’Sullivan’s lead to one after potting the blue to the mid pocket and cleared the remainder of the table with a break of 89.
O’Sullivan made an uncharacteristic error of leaving a red over the bottom pocket, and Zhou dispatched that on his way to a break of 26 that came to an end after being thwarted by another red on the mid pocket.
Momentum looked to have shifted in the Rocket’s favour, but he missed a simple red to the bottom pocket with his anguish clear to see and Zhou cleared up to the yellow to level the scores.
It was then Zhou who seized the initiative, and took the lead in the match for the first time, by clinching a crucial ninth frame.
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‘You can add that to the list!’ – O’Sullivan continues to ‘struggle badly’ with miss on pink
He missed a tough red with the rest down the left rail, but it did not matter as a run of 38 was enough to move him within one frame of a famous win.
But in typical O’Sullivan fashion, he showed all his experience to get himself back into the match. In a gruelling frame, he was able to produce a break of 77 to force another decider.
And in the final frame, O’Sullivan produced an emphatic break of 122 to cement his place in the semi-finals.
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O’Sullivan wraps up win over Zhou with ‘grandstand finish’ as he makes a century
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
