Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Joe Perry:
In the first session of this best of 25 frames match, Ronnie O’Sullivan made the first mistake by missing a long red, and giving Joe Perry the first decent chance of the match. As the break went along to 28, Joe played into the reds, got a beautiful split but they all covered each other, beginning an important safety duel. Leading already by 28 the next chance was Joe’s as well after Ronnie failed with his attempt to pot a red over the corner swerving for a cushion first contact. He added a further 36 before missing a tough pink to the top corner but his lead was 64 with 67 remaining, so he only needed to pot one more red if he got the chance. Get another chance he did and this time he sealed the frame and took a 1-0 advantage. Ronnie potted the first red of frame two, but failing to get on a colour cut the break very short. Ronnie potted the next red, but he missed a relatively simple black straight away. Joe was left a tough chance of a red along the bottom cushion which wobbled but stayed up for O’Sullivan, who you now expected to make more from this chance than he did his first couple. He added a further 33 before the cue ball ran away from him after splitting the pack from a red and forced him to play safe with his 39 point advantage. A poor safety from Joe left Ronnie the chance to seal this one after several chances coming to him already, and win it he did to level the match up in these early stages at 1-1. A super long red got Joe back scoring again in frame and with the first good chance to really get amongst the balls and build a decent frame lead at the very least. The lead was 57 for Perry with 67 left on the table when he was forced to play safe, but it certainly looked a big lead with the remaining reds safe on the bottom cushion. Great pots on a red and then a long blue left Ronnie needing snookers, but he didn’t play on so Joe had secured the 2-1 advantage. After some poor play from O’Sullivan at the start of the fourth frame, The Gentleman had a brilliant opening to try and put Ronnie under further pressure. Joe played the balls perfectly and was looking in fine form as he went into the first mid-session break 3-1 up thanks to a break of 82.
After the break Perry was the first back in with a chance to
make some early points, but the table looked pretty tough as he arrived, and he
soon ran out of position on just 7. O’Sullivan had the next chance after a long
red from a ball in hand and immediately he’d played for the black but a failed
cannon on just 16 left him a tricky red from mid-range which he left for Perry.
With black and blue back on their spots it looked like a more inviting
opportunity for Joe this time around and once he’d gotten into the reds it
looked like a golden frame winning one. However, he left what was virtually
frame ball at longer range than he’d prefer and missed it to give O’Sullivan
another chance. The first obstacle for Ronnie was the final red on the left
side cushion and one he couldn’t get over as he missed and left it in the jaws,
gifting Perry the frame and a 4-1 lead. The first opening in the sixth frame
went to the Rocket after a missed long red for his opponent left him right in
amongst the reds, but once again he disappointed by only making 12 from it.
When he got back in again though after another Perry error, he looked like
making a lot more and got the reds open very early in the break. A
magnificently well worked 117 from Ronnie pulled a frame back to trail Perry
2-4 with 2 frames left in the session. A poor safety from Perry at the start of
frame seven gave O’Sullivan the first scoring chance once again with many of
the reds separated it already looked like a decent winning one. The following
break of 75 proved that as it got O’Sullivan back to within a frame of Perry at
3-4 with just one frame left of the session which was now key. There was plenty
of tension in the air for the final frame of the session, even at such an early
stage as a long safety battle raged on until Ronnie missed a long attempt and
left Joe one to go at with the rest. With the balls sitting nicely, already it
looked like a good chance for him to win the frame and the session 5-3, but
with that comes plenty of pressure. He managed to ride that pressure well
though and a very well played 99 put Joe Perry 5-3 ahead at the end of the
first session.
Starting off the net day for the second session of 8 frames,
Ronnie O’Sullivan knocked in a tricky little red at the start of frame nine to
get his account for the session going, and he was nicely on the pink straight
away with a few reds available. Once he’d got a lovely split to take the break
to 39 he looked well on his way to pulling a frame back and he did so with a
nicely crafted 93 to close to within one of Joe at 4-5. Frame ten started with
Joe Perry making his opening pot of the session. A confident long, straight red
to hold for the black and with the reds nicely open it seemed to be a dangerous
early opening. A break of 68 left him just a red short of winning the frame but
he came up well short on his position from the blue and missed a tricky cut,
giving Ronnie an opportunity to counter. He’d made 15 when he couldn’t found
position on a colour and when he missed a long blue that was frame over as
Perry regained his two frame advantage at 6-4. Joe made the first mistake of
frame eleven though when he caught the middle pocket bump with his safety shot
and left the two reds in the top half of the table on for O’Sullivan. The break
came to a premature close on 22 though as the cannon on the reds didn’t work
out for Ronnie, and he missed a tough red cueing from the middle pocket jaws. A
snooker escape soon after though from the twice defending champion gave Perry
an easy starter to get on the black, and the reds weren’t awfully positioned
for him to build a reasonable advantage. Joe built a 35 point lead before
having to play safe, but he wasn’t waiting long for his next chance after
knocking in a superb red from distance, but once again he couldn’t get nicely
into the pack of 4 remaining reds and had to play safe 43 ahead with 59
remaining. Joe got the next chance once again and he managed to get over the
line this time around and he edged three frames ahead at 7-4. It was vital for
Ronnie O’Sullivan even at such an early stage of this Last 16 tie that he one
this final frame before the second mid-session interval and it was a sublime
red that gave him the first chance of the twelfth frame. He got to 31 before
his split of the bunch didn’t work out and he missed a double to nothing.
Another missed double could’ve proven costly but Joe handed the initiative
straight back to Ronnie by missing the red along the cushion and he did not
look back this time taking the golden opportunity and closing the gap to two
frames again at 5-7.
A really poor safety from Ronnie straight after the interval
gave Joe Perry the first chance of frame thirteen, but a failed cannon on the
pink and reds from the blue saw the pink go straight in and leave O’Sullivan in
the balls. He was straight into the reds and early on it looked like a very
nice opening to build a strong lead. He’d gotten to 38 before playing a poor
positional shot and having to run away up the table for safety. After another
missed long red from Ronnie shortly after, Joe had a chance to reduce his 43
point deficit in the frame. Perry built a 20 point lead but couldn’t nudge the
yellow far enough away from the cushion and that led to a safety duel on the
colours. Ronnie had the upper hand throughout the safety and eventually carved
himself out the chance he wanted, clearing to close the gap to just a single
frame now at 6-7. Ronnie had the first chance in the next as well, although the
hand of apology would suggest he didn’t know much about the red he cut in playing
safe, but the chance came to nothing and the safety play resumed. Joe knocked
in the next long red and once landing nicely on a colour he manoeuvred the
balls brilliantly to manufacture a frame clinching chance, and he did regain
his 2 frame advantage again thanks to a break of 88 at 8-6. A pretty lazy
snooker escape from Ronnie let Joe back in again in frame fifteen and a cannon
into the reds from his next shot made it look like a useful opening to
accumulate some large points. He didn’t have full control over the cue ball
throughout the break but a well-played 73 was enough for Perry to take a 9-6
advantage and guarantee a lead at the end of the session, with just one frame
remaining. The last frame of the session was always going to be more important
for Ronnie O’Sullivan because he really couldn’t afford to go 10-6 behind, and
after a couple of poor safety shots from his opponent it was the Rocket who had
the first chance, but he couldn’t make it count for more than 15 after a missed
pink to the middle. Perry meanwhile failed to land on a red after going into
the cluster on 8 and the safety battle resumed. The battle did not last very
long as Ronnie made a mess of his safety and left Joe an easy opener, but the
break came to a premature end on 8 again after a big bounce from the cushion
left Joe without a shot on a colour. A confident red to the middle from Joe
allowed him yet another opportunity, but again he didn’t make many after a shot
that seemed to lack confidence on a red on the side cushion that he left in the
jaws for O’Sullivan. Yet again the chance given to him wasn’t taken full
advantage of as the nerves and pressure really started to show, O’Sullivan this
time over hitting his positional shot. A much more confident long red from Joe
allowed him back in, and another good pot on the penultimate red kept him
going, but he missed the black straight after, focussing on position on the
tricky last red. Perry eventually knocked the last red in from range after a
safety bout but played safe on the colour without the right angle to get on the
yellow. Joe then missed a shot at the yellow from range and stuck it for Ronnie
who cleared to the pink to close the gap to just two frames at the end of the
session at 9-7.
It was all to play for as the final session got underway in
frame seventeen with Joe Perry leading 9-7. Ronnie O’Sullivan was the man that
needed the fast start and knocking in a confident long red for the blue to get
him going in the final session was the perfect start. He made 42 from that
starting point before having to play safe when the split of reds didn’t work in
his favour. He didn’t make a good job of the safety though as Perry got his
account going with an equally impressive red from range, but Joe only made 4
before losing position. With Perry starting to miss a couple, O’Sullivan knew
he needed to take the advantage as he closed the gap to 8-9. Joe showed some
early signs of nerves again in frame eighteen as he missed a simpler pink to
the middle than the long red he’d just stroked in. When Ronnie senses his
opponent is down he does everything in his power to keep them there and in
frame eighteen he was one good cannon from making a frame winning break but
when it went wrong, the break ended on 33. The next real opening fell to Perry
and despite his 42 point deficit the balls looked nicely positioned for him to
reduce that by some way. He reduced it to 15 before missing a slightly more
difficult blue off of the spot normal but it did leave Ronnie in to try and
clinch the frame, but he missed the black trying to bring the last red out from
under the cushion, handing it back to Joe. The frame ended up coming down to a
battle on the colours and the stakes were certainly high at a key stage of the
match. A series of good snookers from Joe on the green earned him his
opportunity to clear for the frame and he did exactly that to reinstate his two
frame lead at 10-8. An early fluke from Ronnie in frame nineteen gave him a
good early opening to put some pressure on Perry, and once into the reds he
looked likely to forge a frame winning contribution. A run of 82 did just that
in closing the gap to a single frame again at 9-10. Joe Perry had the first
real chance of the twentieth frame and was aiming to take back his two frame
advantage yet again. 32 was all he could make from that first chance, before
leaving Ronnie in with a decent opening. O’Sullivan led by 6 when missing a
simple red to the corner by some distance and the only reason I could think he
did so was because he distracted himself on the shot and didn’t get up from it
to re-gather. Perry cleared to the pink from the chance he was left which was
plenty for him to swing the pendulum further in his favour again at 11-9.
A nice shot on a long red at the start of frame twenty-one
from O’Sullivan earned him the first chance from the mid-session break. He’d
accumulated 48 before making a complete mess of a pot attempt and leaving Joe a
chance to claw back his arrears, but he was left a tough red which he missed
and left for Ronnie, and he certainly didn’t look back this time, adding enough
to close to just a frame behind once more at 10-11. The defending champion got
his account in the twenty-second frame going with another superb long pot,
keeping up his 100% long pot success in the final session so far, but it was
only 11 he made before playing safe. Yet again though he made a poor show of
the safety shot and let Joe Perry back in. On 42 though disaster struck as Joe
went in off in unfortunate fashion after going into the bunch from the blue.
With the remaining reds all open the next safety error was likely to be
fateful, and it was Perry who made the mistake taking on a very risky red
leaving others on for his opponent. O’Sullivan still had to do the hard work
and clear the table, but he did so in style to inflict the killer blow on Perry
levelling the match for the first time since the second frame at 11-11. You
wondered if that was the frame that lost Joe this match as we went down to a
best of 3 for the match now, and Ronnie was growing in confidence as he showed
with the thunderous long red he made at the beginning of frame twenty three. It
wasn’t easy to start with but in true Ronnie style he was able to make a lot
out of what seemed like very little at the beginning of the break as a magnificent
century of 124 put him into the lead for the first time of the match and what a
time to do so, as Ronnie went one away from a brilliant victory at 12-11. An
early error from Perry in frame twenty four left O’Sullivan a red to the
middle, and an opportunity to build some early points in the frame he needed
for victory. From the moment he got in, Ronnie O’Sullivan never looked like
missing as consecutive centuries (a 113 this time) saw him into the World
Championship quarter-finals with a 13-11 victory over Joe Perry in what was a
magnificent encounter that ebbed and flowed throughout the three sessions of
play.
That really does show the reason why you can never count Ronnie O'Sullivan out for all of the class that he has and the immense talent of surely the greatest player ever to have lived. As well as tomorrow being Christmas Day it's also the day where I reveal 8th place on the countdown. So, who will take the spot?
