Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Mark Selby | Thrilling Ending after ...

30 now he needs an angle on this black to get on to the next red downward striking well fair enough just held the red to the center he only needs three out of the six remember to put himself into the last four he's taken on the blue missed it and well it was a poor positional shot from the no one is better at clearing the table from well behind than o sullivan last week in the closing frame against neil robertson he made a 70 plus clearance that was just preposterously easy it seemed of course it wasn't but he made it look so but they're all on and this is a definite chance nine a young man by the name of stephen hendry i think it was but it is it's a psychological game and uh well a long way to go yet but if ronnie were to clear here and win this opener well that of course puts even more pressure on to mark selby he's only a draw remember this evening he had a good chance there until he missed that blue well you mentioned stephen hendry there i remember him telling the press corps at one particular tournament just how he enjoys the challenge of a potential clearance from well behind he said it's though goes on because i realize how important it is and the level of concentration naturally just cranks up a notch or two well we know we've seen through the years that obviously steve davis dominated through the 80s and stephen hendry in the 90s i used to practice stephen hendry and sterling you know four or five six hours a day and when he got to 70 or 80 phil he wasn't happy he wasn't satisfied satisfied he wanted to clear the table all of the time and his powers of concentration were unbelievable a little straighter on the block than he would have wanted o'sullivan but that problem is easily solved well again we've just evidenced the superb cue action of ronnie o'sullivan it's it's minimum effort maximum effect 33 you really just get right through that cue ball fantastic technique yes he's a naturally gifted player but he's had to work on that over the years the brown could be the hurdle here really didn't capture in this opening frame yes especially with the blue being off its spot okay so the pink goes in the cue ball just sneaks past the yellow left-handed 49 needs a good angle on the brown here yes he was too straight well this is not guaranteed for me second favorite for this shot oh that was a mile away really was a mile didn't even sweat in the pocket this is not easy for mark selby so so close good frame this is not easy to get safe from there's no way he can take this on very well it's got to be careful well now then now then this time there is a definite pot on will he take it on it's a toughy from there i wouldn't think so he did where's it going it's a good cue ball well i don't know where they found this cloth from but it's absolutely beautiful it's very responsive when the boys are trying to pull the white back and it's quick around the table we've seen good and bad cloths over the years but over the last year or so a great shot the cloths have been very very good and very consistent five that was a pot let's not forget that uh mark selby kicked off with a 38 here he was in control until he allowed ronnie in this is frame ball then it's there he's entered the frame with the blues oh sullivan one water pop that was right another one required here well he's trying to get the black safe on the side cushion i thought he was taking a pot on that's a very clever shot just caught it a little bit on the thick side it's on to the middle come down for the left on red here just off the back cushion but this needs a great effort to win the frame from here well he's gone to nudge it over the pocket it's not bad well again a great effort to try and get him behind the green not quite it would be a stretch to say these two are enemies but certainly there's not a great deal of war between them backstage you just get the he's motivated tonight he would love to win this 5-1 or 6-0 to prevent selby getting into the semi-finals well that's certainly true though because you know these are all great players seven the best players in the world but we know ronnie knows how strong mark some selby can be mentally and he wants him out the way a genuinely powerful rivalry exists between these two mark wasn't able to take advantage now then has he got the snooker he might have been lucky here well very fortunate for mark there if he didn't come in into that yellow he definitely would have left that red on now ronnie has to get it safe and he hasn't done well there's no angle there back for the blue i suppose oh you can see he came right across that now has he got it safe it's not bad understandable reasons his playoff place is guaranteed selby's still to be secured although one has to say as far as safety shots go that was very poor yes he was trying to get him behind the yellow and green but it was a poor shot another chance for mark then well done he's on the brown okay the yellow is awkward but it's next to the green which is a bonus oh that's a bad shot he's nearly snookered himself mark selby five mind you i played the snooker behind the black i think i'll get a snooker here they might leave it on as well he's caught the other side actually oh i thought he had foul and it's a free ball free ball ronnie nominating the green as the yellow he's gone to split it what a shot this would be unlucky ronnie o'Sullivan too he's going side and back cushions around the table here looks a good angle well done it's not bad considering which way would ronnie go here well he wanted to send the yellow past the green might be a chance to get him behind the pink now that's a great touch on this fast table bit of slip by the pink but he's got the snooker it's not easy to hit this well played as he potted it oh dear me well a knife in the heart for mark selby position on green as well to rub salt into a deep wound o'Sullivan 16 ahead that means the brownish frame ball for two nil well he's laid a perfectly good snooker i know and to see the yellow go in there well what can you say there's a gentleman in the village of coombe near ebbethale watching this with increasing interest mark williams ronnie o'Sullivan 14 and a friend a fluke is bad enough a fluke and escaping the snooker is even worse mark selby hard done by ronnie o'Sullivan two can he do something with it what we've seen so many down the years no 17 23 well again the yellow near the back cushion but it's close to the green so it shouldn't be a problem and mark selby normally very good in these positions when he's got his back to the wall he tends to respond just slap out a little bit of an angle on this way to get out for the black then down for the yellow 31 anything fairly straight on the yellow would be okay yes you have to think this is the crunch ball i'm very surprised he's played it that way why did he play that way why didn't he play onto the yellow into the green pocket there was a chance that he could going that way in the outer position will only be able to play well a safety for the snooker here a couple of shot choices in this frame phil the cannon into the pack wasn't hard enough into the pink and that one there i thought he had to go down the left-hand side of the table but he's got the snooker well he's missed that by a mile foul that's a free ball i think that is a free ball certainly is our referee paul collier has just called it well he's not taking it he's put ronnie back okay it's the yellow to green that's the problem he feels that if ronnie hits this yellow he might leave an easier yellow on well he could be a free ball again here foul and a miss it is a free ball so be six i'm right down the line of this might go back again as i've just mentioned it's the free ball phil isn't it from you know you can pop the brown to get onto the yellow but it's yellow to green is the difficult shot he's hoping that ronnie will hit this yellow fairly foolish and leave him an easier yellow on could have played off the pink there you know to get in behind the green and leave an even more difficult snooker this is so tough to hit i can't say you just got to play the shot and then he's going to the jaws to try and take the cube wall across the cushion oh hang on foul and a miss mark selby four well that will go back mark selby's not going anywhere i don't know whether ronnie was a was questioning our referee paul collier there with his his last attempt he felt that it was a good enough attempt but uh referee paul collier said no i don't think it was ronnie and it was being questioned foul and a miss mark sell before free ball when you ram the cue ball into the jaws sometimes it comes across the top cushion this is a a viable escape attempt it's not just a an indiscriminate swipe it's still only 19 in this foul and a miss mark shall be four free ball well i don't understand that foul this is just a protest against the rule i think he's himself any favors with this everyone has their opinion about the misrule obviously this is an extremely tough snooker to hit now sullivan here is making a statement for free ball miss not call there because a snooker is now needed frame conceded frame mark selby well that was a very bizarre way to end the frame oh sullivan should have went in mr black to the middle in the end it was all about the misrule controversy