Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Neil Robertson | Great tactical and ...

Well I think once again he's looked at the table Clive and thought well if Ronnie gets in here he'll be looking to get more than 20 the way the balls are situated. Well now he's developed the black, close control on these reds so a good shot needed here, good cueing required and got nine. 17. He's looked at a few things here Ronnie, he's looked at the possibility of a plant. I think he may have overdone that he wanted an angle on the blue. It's a little bit careless that. O'Sullivan still 15 behind in this frame but not an easy clinch for Robertson with the last two reds still tucked under the cushion and he's now looking for a good safety. Here Robertson eight. Well he's hit the brown. Surprising miss there from the Australian. Miss many of those does he? In a way he was lucky that he didn't flick the green and pink into play and leave this red. One. Well Ronnie has got evil thoughts in his mind here. Gonna play the snooker and it will be a tough one. Out of the table to get out the snooker. He can't come down the right hand side. Tell you what this is a tough hit and well is there a gap there? It will push the thing so you've got to be careful he doesn't hit the pink here. Tremendous shot. Absolutely sensational. From the table all the way around in appreciation that was absolutely first class. Well played. That's the one thing he didn't bargain for but can O'Sullivan reach the potting angle? There's no way he can pot it. You feel that Ronnie here to get real advantage needs a snooker. Swerving round to get to the top cushion. The old story can he hit the red and get it safe? The answer is no. I think Ronnie can just get past the blue. You'd like to look for a nice angle on something like the brown that could get you behind the yellow. The awkward yellow. The yellow looks to be the only awkward ball here. Oh this doesn't look too good at the moment. One. And it doesn't look too good now. Ronnie O'Sullivan one. Yellow from the green and the pink was too tricky. Couldn't get on the eye from that either. Well this is a toughy. The yellow the key to the frame. It doesn't really matter to me how many points are in it now. I think whoever gets the yellow wins the frame. Close to the corner pocket. Two. He doesn't want to be too thin on this green otherwise he can't get position for brown. So will Ronnie play to pot this green or will he play the snooker behind the black? Well he's tried to get on the brown. What an effort this is. Oh he wasn't far short was he? Now he'll play the snooker. Ronnie O'Sullivan five. And now the age-old problem for Neil. Can he hit the brown and get it safe? He has played some wonderful escapes. No attempt at the pot there because he couldn't get on the blue. And isn't this all that's good in snooker? The first two frames unbelievable and now we're into the 31st minute of this frame and it could be argued Clive that this is more exciting than the other two. This brown needs to travel. Ronnie's tried to get it to the top cushion but it's not got there. Needs brown and blue. The only difficulty is the cue ball being close to the side cushion. Stroke it in though gently enough to leave himself on the frame ball blue. He misses that blue for a 2-1 lead. Well that is probably the most amazing miss I think I've ever seen in all my years playing and commentating. Pink though is still no gimme. What a frame that Ronnie's been gifted here. Incredible. Blue, pink and black to lead by two frames to one. Though he's only 30 points behind. He's not like 50 points when he needs to clear up. But see part of that red slightly on the left-hand side of the pocket. So the white would run a little bit further. He's gone to the snooker. It's a very good one. Maybe he can hit one cushion. I thought he'd covered that route so it's not too difficult this one. He's got to hit them hard enough though. Oh and a miss. That's sort of a half shield in those two reds. That's better. Just click the orange again. Just made sure of the black. Can I have a shot of that? Yes there's Hawkeye showing you how difficult this safety is. So he's going to have to hit this one thin and miss the kiss on the red and pink. And he hasn't missed the kiss on the red and pink. That's poor. Just come around to look at the angle he's going to have on the red. I'm just wondering whether he's going to pot the red, bring the brown into play and still be on the black. And that's what he came around to look at Terry this early on. Now isn't that advanced thinking for you? That would be so advanced thinking if he did play this here. It's amazing isn't it? Unfortunately for him though. Okay it's in a better place but it's not great. I wonder how many players in the game would have played that shot. You wish you'd have had that one back. That's why he's so special. Sees everything early especially in the break build inside. He's still got to make the balls and play the position shots. Whether he gets that far is yet to be seen. 19. If he clears here this would be up there with one of the best clearances I've seen purely because of the way he played. To get onto the green, to get onto the red, to move the brown out knowing that the black was there. Bit of a bad contact on that red. It dropped in but he's two inches short of being perfect on this black. Not just for the pot but also for the positional side. He's made up for it. Is the white going to get past the yellow? Oh that's the worst possible kiss. Kissed it full. He still had a pot on or quarter ball either side even on the yellow. Shame that because it's such a great effort Willie mentioned to clear up here. Well well well well. Great shot Willie. Great part. Obviously didn't play to kiss the brown but a very very difficult green in the middle now. But he can play it as a shot to nothing this one. See look at the cue ball. You see he knew that he was getting a good wide. I'm almost disappointed he didn't clear there. Obviously that's disappointing Robertson fans me saying that but that would have been one of the best clearances of all time. Not easy. You can only cue at the top of the white there. It's very well played. Needs a kiss on the black. Didn't get it. I thought for one moment this was going right over the middle. It's just pulled up in time and now this is a tough safety. I don't think the green's available. Not too sure whether this is on but he seems to think it is. I think the key thing is to get a good wide. Wow that makes it look a lot easier than it looked from here. That was a great pot. Brown is the key ball. If he pots it he'll win the frame. Well played. Excellent pot under pressure but the cue ball just ran a fraction too far. He'd like to leave this straight now because that's the easiest pot and he doesn't need the black so pressure on it. Neil Robertson 12. He did it at a fair pace but he does like to give him a little bit of a hit. Now then if he pots this and gets for the black it'll be a miracle. He had a go at it. He unfluked it. He's left it. Much easier pink this time for Robertson. He's desperate to get another frame on the board. Crucial frame. Go to the mid-session and he's pulled it back now. He's four frames behind at eight frames to four. We had a tactical battle for about 14 minutes at the start of this frame. 43. Just shows you this young Australian has the temperament. He certainly has the confidence. Probably the finest player ever to come out of Australia. Neil Robertson. Eddie Charlton held that mantle for many many years traveling over to the UK but this is a totally different player altogether. This fella is something special. 54. So he's playing for the pink. 52. And that will be enough to leave Ronnie needing a snooker. There was a long safety exchange as you say and Ronnie it appeared had won it. Crowd getting excited. Well and that's a superb shot by Ronnie. What a chance he's got now. The only awkward ball and there's plenty of awkward shots to play. You think could be the blue. A chance he could never have expected. What a turning point this could be. 17. Ronnie doesn't need the black off the last red. Off this red. Brown or above. Decided to play for the awkward blue and he's going to play it left-handed. Amazing. That's terrific. I have the tension here in the crucible. It's amazing. 32. What a cheer will go up if he clears these. This is a big big frame. Neil Robertson one pot away. 35. I always believe the key now if he can pop the brown get perfect position on the blue. Now how's he on the blue? 39. He's run too far. I always think that that is the key shot and he's just overrun it. Now how's he going to get there because he's had a look to see if the pink will pass the black. It's now slightly easier to get the other side of the table. I've got a couple of circles up now. Can he get near the one to the right? 44. He's not on it. He'll be disappointed. He just needed that good positional shot from brown to blue. He made sure he got a good pink there. 44. No attempt at getting the snooker behind the black. The pink's close. Not easy this. To stay on the black you've got to fully commit and float it in. There's noise coming from the other table. He's trying to concentrate. He's got to really commit to this pink. What a frame. 44 and then pops the pink and black. Ronnie O'Sullivan's now leading by one frame. It's 11-10. This is brilliant. It's so unlucky. He throws the chalk up. Oh, need a bit on it. But for the red bouncing off the top cushion and leaving him awkward. He can't play it now. And in it goes. That's unlucky. That is very, very unlucky. Oh, he's kissed the yellow. Six. One more red required after this pink. Had the angle to move it. He kissed the red twice and that left it absolutely a sitter for Ronnie. And Ronnie playing the safety comes snooker and he's got the snooker. 12 frames to 10. Risky shot with little reward. Played it in the middle and he's looked at Neil and Neil's laughing. That's how well he's playing, John. He's potting balls that he's not playing to pot. Ronnie O'Sullivan, one. White will go towards the blue or yellow. It's cannon the blue. What about that for a shot? 18. I think he's got to play the cannon now, possibly. How's your luck? And the missed pink has probably cost him this because that's the one that Ronnie needed. The cannon released the red. We could see another century in this match. Surely a century break would be the icing on the cake. No century. But Ronnie took the last three frames and he goes through to the quarterfinal. A superb match from both players. But it's Ronnie O'Sullivan. 13-10.