Ronnie O’Sullivan was left angry during his World Snooker Championship match against John Higgins
Ronnie O’Sullivan was visibly angered during his World Snooker Championship clash against John Higgins. O’Sullivan was taking on the Scot in the last-16 encounter at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, with a quarter-final berth at stake.
O’Sullivan had established a commanding 6-2 advantage heading into the evening session, but watched his lead whittled down to three frames as Higgins clawed the score back to 9-6 going into the final frame of the night.
As the seven-time world champion attempted to pot a red into the top corner pocket, his effort narrowly missed its mark, handing Higgins a lifeline in the frame.
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Following the missed pot, the Rocket made no attempt to hide his frustration, slamming his hand down on the side of the table.
The miss proved to be a costly one, as Higgins went on to claim the frame and narrow the gap to 9-7 ahead of Monday’s sessions.
Former world champion John Parrott reflected on the decisive final frame secured by Higgins, highlighting the significance it could have on the outcome of the match.
“A brilliant final frame and what a session of snooker that was – full of tension,” Parrott told BBC Sport.
“Both players had chances but John Higgins just refused to go away.”
Six-time world champion Steve Davis also weighed in on the closing session between, particularly the standard that both players showed in the match.
“The standard dropped tonight, but isn’t it amazing that when it gets worse sometimes it can be more exciting because of the unexpected misses,” he said.
He also waded in on O’Sullivan losing his temper, saying: “All of a sudden Ronnie O’Sullivan bashes the table with frustration, what a boost for John Higgins to know the other guy is feeling it as well.”
Whoever emerges victorious from the clash will subsequently face either Neil Robertson or Chris Wakelin in the quarter-final at the Crucible later in the week.
Robertson currently holds a 10-6 advantage over Wakelin following Sunday’s afternoon session and will head into Monday’s play as the frontrunner to secure a quarter-final berth.
In the other evening session fixture, Wu Yize carved out an 9-7 lead over four-time world champion Mark Selby. The victor of this encounter would then face either Judd Trump or Hossein Vafaei in the quarter-final, with that particular match standing at 9-7 in Trump’s favour going into Monday.
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