16-year-old Yan Bingtao vs Ronnie O'Sullivan | 2017 World ...

Five times world champion versus 16-year-old Yan Bingtao whom O'Sullivan considers a potential multiple world champion of the future. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, Yan Bingtao to break. I'm looking forward to seeing this young man play and I've never seen him playing before. Yan numbered Sean Murphy amongst his victims on his way to the quarterfinals of last week's German Masters. Already up to 68th in the rankings on only half a season's points opposed to the two seasons that you're allowed. Equally good. Brown into the middle. Need to look very easy. Five. Six. What a bone to be able to play that well left-handed. 13. 14. Deliberately leaving himself low in the shred in order to move some from the bunch and putt on this. Check side in the cue ball. Make sure he stayed in the black. I think O'Sullivan is really up for this and intent on imposing himself right from the off. 29. 30. The reason why he's not already down playing this black is he's landed too straight. Perhaps see his facial expressions. There was a careless shot to land like that. So a bit more work to do with the cue ball here and that's a beautiful shot for a choice of two reds one to either corner. Controlled that really well. Not straight enough to come through for black. 38. But perfectly back for blue leaving a slight angle. Not the start Yan Bingtao was looking for Clive would suggest. Well all he's done so far is to break off. 44. The young man does have ambitions of being world champion. World number one winning titles. This is what you've got to do. Start matches like this. Especially on a best of seven. 45. 50. 57. 58. I don't think Yan is expecting to get back to the table before this frame is decided. No from the moment. 65. Sullivan deliberately left himself low in that red to open the reds. This has looked inevitable what's going to happen. 66. The poor 73 ignores the significance rather than the difficulty of the shot. 74. It meant that Jeff Sullivan was past the post. 79. 80. Up to 80 in six minutes. Yeah one of the reasons. 87. Sullivan plays so quickly is because he's always in perfect position. Actually never has to think about a shot. That's a secret to snooker is that cue ball. 95. Keeping it under control. 96. 104. 110. 112. Thank you. 150. 119. 124. Not quite the same freedom to play this long red that Ronnie had in the first frame. You can see he's got aimed down in a cue ball to get it run behind the black. It's not a natural. Didn't threaten the pocket. So a chance for Yang Bingtao. He needed to hit the cue ball thinner than that. Well if he was going for the pot he missed it by so far I thought he was playing the safety shot Clive. Maybe it didn't pot the red. The view was different from ours. This one definitely pots. It all depends here whether the black goes back in its own spot and is able to pot to a good a chance this is. He's played for the black straight away. He doesn't want to be straight on this black. Not a good shot though. Then he's obviously satisfied himself that the black will go past the two reds. If he hasn't then there was no point in playing the shot as he did. As you say Clive strange to pot the red like that not knowing if the black goes. Although it was a fantastic red pace from that angle. End of break. Yang Bingtao 9. Yang Bingtao was world amateur champion at 14 with his young compatriot Zhu Yulong. Won the world cup playing as China B. That was a fluke. Won. Ronnie O'Sullivan won. Showing his opponent respect there. I didn't even look at the brown to the right middle. If he missed that look at where the cue ball was. Not a single thought about what he would leave should he miss that red. Stick pot. Seven. Eight. Fourteen. Fifteen. Not the most helpful of kisses by any means. No I'd love to have that one back. Huge margin for error to be on the blue there. Blue ball. Too slow. Fifteen. I think. Unexpected miss from O'Sullivan. One. Yang Bingtao has to take these opportunities if he's got any ambitions of winning this match. Yang Bingtao one. Unforced error. Yeah unfortunately that's the second good chance he's had. Yang Bingtao showing a few signs of being somewhat overawed by the opposition that he's facing. Seven. Eight. Fourteen. Fifteen. Twenty-one. Twenty-two. Not a straightforward frame winning chance by any means. Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty-five. Thirty-six. Forty-one. Ronnie O'Sullivan forty-one. No need for Ronnie to take any risks. He'll play the percentage game tonight and just force his young opponent into making mistakes. O'Sullivan slightly careless with that safety. Yang may be able to pot this. Cushion first. If he makes contact with the red the right way he could even take the other red off the left hand side cushion. Thought about that shot. Seven. Is he tempted by the double? I'm sure he is but as we all know if you miss a double you've got no idea where the red's going to end up. Yang Bingtao seven. One. Not quite so much of a stretch to reach the yellow as it would have been to reach the green. Five. Green and brown needed. Eight. Two no lead. Twelve. Ronnie O'Sullivan. So Yang Bingtao needs one snooker. That shot was a little bit careless to let the cue ball go near that pocket. Further action from Yang Bingtao will be required in this second frame. Eleven in the frame. Quiet a passion in the first frame. O'Sullivan is still running and leads by two frames to nil. Lucky really the intention would have been to leave the cue ball on the ball cushion not tight up behind the green. Yeah I don't know I don't know why Ronnie was tapping the table. Well since the first frame he's completely off the ball. Whoa really good opening this for Yang Bingtao. Six reds in the open. I think no problem. I'd love to get rid of that red it's next to the black now. He wants the black available to both pockets. Nine. That's good. No spot available for the pink so it goes as near as possible to its own spot in a direct line between it and the black spot is near the nearest ball without actually touching it. Sixteen. Twenty-three. Now I'm interested to see. Twenty-four. Yang decides to play for the colour to go into the bunch of reds because I believe it's always best to go into them when there's one maybe even two loose reds still there because that gives you insurance that if you're not successful in the split you should still have a pot on. So interesting to see if he gets an angle in the black this time what he decides to play. He hasn't got a good angle this time he won't be going into the bunch from here. Thirty-nine. An angle in the green would be nice. Half ball green. That's what he's played. Forty. Into the bunch. Well he's going to play for the loose red so this surprises me a little bit. So now imperative that he gets an angle in the black. He's put all his eggs in one basket here by leaving it so there's no loose reds left. Forty-three. Fifty. Fifty-one. He goes into the pack of the black. If he hits a pink full ball he could stick on the pink if he doesn't play with enough pace. He caught it. Half ball. Well done. He's taken these well. He could have gone into the bunch of reds earlier but he's still at the table and now you would expect him to win the frame. It's a good performance from Fifty-nine. Sixty-two. Sixty-three. Sixty-eight with only sixty-seven on. Sixty-eight. Sixty-nine. Sixty-nine. Yumming time and a frame. Sixty-nine is enough. Enough to reduce O'Sullivan's lead to two-one. He plays for the black. He has to get it because he's going to leave everything on He's not played for the black. He's playing for a moment of safety. A welcome fluke. Three. Four. Ten. It's not so much the fluke but what comes after. Eleven. A chance to build up a useful lead in this fourth frame. Again like Ronnie O'Sullivan's breaking the first frame leaving himself deliberately low on the red to open the reds. Again check side to keep the cue ball this side closer to the black and he's created another great opportunity for himself here. Twenty-six. Twenty-seven. Thirty-four. Thirty-five. Played that well. Right side of the pink. He just could go into the bunch of reds. Just look at the red that's closest to the pink. He just wants to miss that on the left hand side and go into the bunch. No he's just gone too wide. I think he's going to be okay. He's got a single red but he just went too far to the left. This is straight. Forty-one. This is a tough shot. Oh this needs very good cueing. There's a red between the pink and black that goes to the left corner so he can stun off one cushion for that one or he can there's a red next to the pink to the right corner. He's got options. Forty-five. That could have gone wrong but in the end it was a pretty good shot he played. Fifty-three. Fifty-four. Seems to be enjoying it out there now Clive. Yes he's really got into it and he's within sight of levelling the match at two all. Sixty-one. Sixty-two. Sixty-eight. Sixty-eight. Sixty-eight in this one for O'Sullivan doesn't get a snooker. Left-handed as it was that's the sort of ball O'Sullivan normally pots. One. It's going to be two all and that's going to put O'Sullivan under pressure. Last week he lost 5-4 to Mark King from 4-1 up. Seven. So it's not beyond the bounds possibility that this could be another reverse for him. Fifteen. If Yan was overawed at the start he's not now he's just treating O'Sullivan like any other opponent. Twenty-three. Twenty-four. Thirty-one. The frame has been long since one but Yan Bingtao is still building up momentum. Thirty-five. Thirty-seven. Forty. Forty-four. Left-handed. O'Sullivan smiles. He's not the only one who can switch hands. Forty-nine. Fifty-five. Fifty-five in the frame for Yan Bingtao. Hasn't got the cue ball as near the black cushion as he intended. Now this shot the cue ball is going to be careering into the reds. With even more pace than I thought he might. He's got three up for the blue so. One. The first scoring opportunity again. Six. Seven. Fourteen. A little bit of a slack one there. He can't hold for the black so there's no problem. Two reds in bulk. Blue's in the open. So even if he finishes short in a blue, which he has done, it's still available. A red to the yellow pocket. Twenty. Twenty-one. It's the middle of the night in China but I think there still will be several million watching this match and urging on their outstanding young prospect. Twenty-five. Twenty-six. Not quite such a good shot the last one because the cue ball's finished so close to the side cushion that if he wants to play on the red to the right of the bunch he's got to do it just with control of pace. Well in the end he did it easily. Thirty-one. He just doesn't look like missing at the moment. Now of course when I say that. Yan Bingtao. Thirty-one. He misses but he's lifting up in. He'll be disappointed though and that was all caused by a few shots previously. A careless shot in the black for position on the next red when he had to go up for blue. Never got perfect position again after that. Up to two minutes from what may prove a highly significant shot. Maybe a turnaround in O'Sullivan's fortunes. The plant wasn't quite on. He tried to make it. He leaves O'Sullivan in. Thank you. Not with the easiest of opening reds although I would be very surprised if he missed it. Okay I'm surprised. What a look that is. Look at where the cue ball's left. He's three-two down. That doesn't go in. That was golden. He's definitely under pressure at this stage in the match. O'Sullivan has no doubt about it. As if the shot that Yan agonized over for more than two minutes is going to prove significant. Although it wouldn't have done. O'Sullivan hadn't fluked the opening red in his contribution. Starts to get a little bit more difficult this break after this red. You can tell by the body language is not ideal on this black. I'm gonna hit that so well. A bit unlucky. Cue ball travels another inch or two and this red is a gimme. Trickier. It's a blind pocket. Yeah good shot. 52. Still has a bit to do and could have done without the Ronnie O'Sullivan 59. Very very timely fluke. He's going to have to be under a lot of pressure. That's giving him a nice 28 point lead. I just noted that I was very careful not to bring the black into play as he played that safety. Thereby increasing O'Sullivan's lead to 32. Just a red and a colour needed then. If he's to regain the lead at 3-2. O'Sullivan hangs four points back. Well he certainly didn't expect that red to creep over the middle pocket. He's got to play the cannon into the red and black surely off this red. I think he can do it. I think he can get enough into the cue ball. No he's not because he's playing topspin. Maybe the angle is a bit different for Yang. What it looks on the screen. Yeah a little bit too thin possibly. He looked on at first glance. Well he knows by putting the blue he gets five points but he's not going to be able to pop the red after. So he's thinking of a way of bringing either the green or pink into play and playing a safety shot. Both of them in the same shot off the cushion but he's not put Ron in a lot of trouble. Almost did it again. But for the awkward cueing I think Yang might have been tempted to have a go at this. O'Sullivan just needs to pop this red and he's over the line barring snookers. Red on table two. Anthony McGill has taken a 2-1 lead over David Gilbert. Yeah I don't really see the point of playing on here especially with the brown and one cushion the black tight and another cushion. Well that's made it easier for him. That was nice of Ronnie. Three four point snookers still required. So the cherry on the cake. Ronnie O'Sullivan four and a frame. So Ronnie O'Sullivan studied the ship and regained the lead at 3-2. Why does O'Sullivan break off left-handed? He says it's because left-handed he can get more side on the cue ball get through it better to get the cue ball into its desired position tight behind the green. Would have been safe but for the double kiss. So often Ronnie O'Sullivan finishes off matches in style in one visit in the frame he needs. He wasn't able with the angle of the black to generate enough pace on the cue ball to open up more reds. Ronnie O'Sullivan eight. But that's the pressure that's on this young man now. He knows that any bad shot could be his last foul. Ronnie O'Sullivan four. The real penalty though is leaving this red as a starter for O'Sullivan. Hampered by the blue and the red he wants to take. That's a very acceptable alternative though. I didn't realise it cut so easily. You see an example of Ronnie O'Sullivan choosing to go into the bunch when he still had a loose red. Starting to look a bit ominous now with this. 28. 29. 36. Well almost messed it up. 42. If he'd finished touching goal on the pink as he so nearly did. 43. Behind the break as it is the match winning break. 50. 51. 58. This is effectively match ball for O'Sullivan. 59. 66. Yeah there was a time at two each when when O'Sullivan fluked that red. Had he not fluked it he probably would have gone three two down. So very fine lines in this game especially on the best of seven. 73. Well O'Sullivan's definitely going to win but what's been your impression of Yang Bingtao Steven? Yeah I've been pretty impressed with him. He's obviously very talented. 80. 81. He's I think he's acquitted himself very well tonight. It's a big occasion for him playing Ronnie O'Sullivan in an arena like this. 88. O'Sullivan started with the total clearance 137. There's every chance that he's going to finish with a century. If he keeps playing for a few more years he could easily reach the thousand. 106. 110. 115. O'Sullivan led 2-0. He wasn't allowed to putt a ball in the next two frames but he won the fifth frame. Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Yang Bingtao by four frames to two. We'll be seeing a lot more of this 16 year old Chinese.