Teen Ding Junhui Amazes Ronnie O'Sullivan ‒ final session | 2006 NIT Final

We're only very capable of coming back from 5-3 down, we've seen that before. But he would like to start the evening all level. That's made the difference, that little nudge there. Hmm, that was a little bit wild. One. Hmm, pink and the blue, not well positioned. And he can't obviously get to the black, so it's got to be a ball colour here, the green. He's not missing much now. Four. Five. Nine. Ten. That's perfect. This is a great opportunity for Ding to finish the session with a two-frame advantage. Eighteen. Twenty-five. Twenty-six. Thirty-three. Thirty-four. Forty-one. He must be just a little concerned at the moment. Well, when he was 3-1 up, I don't think he expected this. But you've got to say that Ding has been full-valued. Might just roll up to the brown here. Indeed, that's what he's doing. So the youngster is in command of this 8th frame. Here's a question for you, Mike. We know that Ronnie is a very good front-runner. But if he gets a couple of frames behind, sometimes he tends to lose interest. Yes, that's the one flaw in Ronnie's temperament which a lot of other players don't have. You're absolutely right. I just wonder if he does lose this frame. Well, I'd never say he's going to do that tonight. Coming out tonight, he'll come out with all guns blazing, I'm sure. Play it left-handed? Yeah, why not? I'm not sure whether that's a first. I'm just trying to rack my brains. Yeah, possibly. I'm not sure I've seen Ding play a left-handed shot before. Well, Ronnie, in some way, might well have enjoyed seeing that. He won't enjoy it so much if Ding goes on to win the frame, though. This has been a tremendous fight back. He's heading for his fourth frame in a row. Very impressive. 24. Ronnie will have a bit to do. Early doors this evening. He's got to be on it from the first ball. It will be a very interesting evening's snooker ahead. Snooker's required by Ronnie now. Can on the two reds. Played. It was a good one, wasn't it? It's the sort of form he showed in the final of the China Open against Stephen Hendry. Didn't play that bad in the UK final, either. 42. 43. Scarcely waiting for Jan Verhaes to replace the colours here. Shades of Alex Higgins and, indeed, Ronnie at times. Well, he's missed the yellow, but that's the frame. Four in a row for the youngster to come from 3-1 down to finish the session. Leading Ronnie O'Sullivan by five frames to three. And here we go, then, with frame nine of a possible 17. Ding needs four of them. And, as I said just a moment ago, Ronnie needs six. Trying to play a plant here. There's some distance between them. I can tell you the odds have changed slightly, obviously, from this afternoon's session. Ronnie was 11-4 on this afternoon. He's now 11-10. Whereas Ding Chunhui is 6-4 on. Eight. Nine. 17. He's let it slip away and he's missed the black anyway. Well, that was slightly loose. One. His tonym has been quite high. I think, you know, all the way through it's been very, very good. But these two boys especially have been exceptional. 13. Ronnie O'Sullivan, 13. Oh, that was very close indeed. He was slightly queuing over the brown there. Oh, there is one there. Shot to nothing. Oh, well played. Well, that was the way he was potting in the semi-final yesterday against Dominic Dale. He just didn't miss anything. He's left this one a little awkward. He's just got to move the cue. He's got to be careful. Well, we said that Ronnie needs to get off to a good start. Fantastic opportunity here to claw one back. 12. 19. 20. 27. 28. 36. Claiming to play one of these reds into the left centre pocket. 51. Well, they're a bit concerned there. I wonder who's gone too far on this red. Seems okay. He needs this one. Yeah, that's ground ball. I mentioned that that's part of the job done. Now he can concentrate on the second one and try and level things up. A bit close to that middle pocket. Slip down. Well, I don't think it matters much. It's enough to give him the frame. But still Ding Zhunhui in the lead. He saw his 3-1 lead evaporate as Ding Zhunhui piled on the pressure in the second half of the afternoon session taking all four of those frames. That wasn't too close. 1. 4. 5. Don't think he's nudged that far enough. 12. Only a solid 12. Well. Now he's got to cover this one. I think he's just done that with the green. Ooh, that's the last thing that he wanted to do. Not only has he conceded the penalty points but of course he leaves the red on for Ding Zhunhui. Don't think there's many empty seats here this evening. Hang on, where's the white? He could have gone off here. He doesn't like it. 1. Ding Zhunhui. 1. Northern Ireland Trophy. It was an invitational event last season with 20 players. The top 16 and four wild cards. And it was highly successful. And thanks mainly to Belfast City Council who have come in with a lot of support for this event. It's a fully-fledged ranking event this year. 6. Just play the safety shot. Probably a wise decision. Ding Zhunhui. 6. OK, Ronnie's got this teaser. No he's not. Just the safety. Can you switch your phones off at the top please? A lot of left-hand side on the cue ball there to take it back up the table. But I think he's left Ronnie this red on near the top cushion. No, he's not taking it. Waiting for a better chance. I think Ding needs to play in this one now. One just right of the left corner pocket here. Cut it in with a bit of check side. Ooh, too thick. And he can it into the other reds now. Has he done any damage? I think there's one there that goes. Perhaps not. Well, the one near the black spot certainly goes. There's the white. Yes, the white was very close. Ooh. Well, done the right thing. Got the difficult red and then misses the blue. The one that's nearest the pink spot. Only knew that the white was going down for safety. If he'd hit it harder, I think it might have gone in the middle. Clicks the black out. Well, that was fully committed there. Hmm. Well, green first. Might try and get on that red near the pocket. Ooh, Ronnie. That was an interesting shot selection. One. Eight. Nine. Yeah. Fifteen. Sixteen. Oh, he's held that very well indeed. Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-nine. I am putting him up to provisionally number five in the world. Thirty. This might be the fastest top eight I've got over the years. Trying to play safe now. Thirty-six. I think Jean-Louis. Thirty-six. Well, Ronnie had to play that cushion first, and I think it's cost him this frame. So if he gets this red in good position from the colour to the next reds, it could be six-four. Well, that's not bad. I think he played on the brown, but he'll settle for that. Now it's a question of whether he can get from this green onto these two reds near the yellow. He can actually play on the one left of the yellow to the left corner. Well, this is perfect. Absolutely perfect. Well played. Five. This makes it forty. So just one red required for a two-frame lead. Seven. Eight. Fifteen. Sixteen. Twenty-three. Twenty-five. Ding Chunhui. Twenty-five. Eight. Nine. Sixteen. Well, he should play the one to the middle, really. It's the better percentage. Well, I'll tell you what, that's a cracking shot, because he's calculated to come off those reds and split them open. He could have taken the ease of the one to the middle, but he chose to open them up. Great shot. Thirty-four. This is the stuff which makes such great entertainment for these audiences, isn't it, Mike? He's getting in the mood. Thirty. He needs to. Thirty. If he is to run out the winner here. Forty. Forty-one. Forty-eight. Well, I just noticed there's a plant there to the same pocket as well, that opens up a red to the left corner. You would expect him to win this frame from here. We shouldn't say things like that, should we? We know sometimes things happen straight afterwards. But the run of sixteen frames has ended, actually. After the seventh frame of the match, the eighth did not produce a half-century. But the run of sixteen consecutive frames in Ronnie O'Sullivan's matches with at least a half-century. And they've enjoyed every minute of this. Wow. Biting his nails there. Sixty-three. Sixty-eight. Next red is frame ball. Should have won the frame comfortably now. I don't think we'll see any more of Dean Shunway in this one. As near to its own spot as possible. Topside. And in line down the middle of the table. Seventy-six. And a lovely split by Ronnie there. Oh, this is magic stuff. This is more like he was playing against Dominic Dale yesterday. Oh, he's torquing them down. Yeah, he's taking them away from the cushion as well. Eighty-three. Are we going to see his seventh century of the week here? Ninety-one. And he's just nudged that red into an even more potable position. Marvellous little nudge there. I think it's... Oh, yeah. Ah, he's just asking about the high break because he's on ninety-eight. Forty-three left. One-three. One... My maths has gone awry now. Well, honestly, he's asked for the break prize, not the high break. He's on a one-four-one. Quiet now, please. And the high break is Dominic Dale's one-three-seven at the moment. So he doesn't necessarily have to take the black here. Oh, he's left it dangerously close to the cushion. On ninety-nine. I'd be surprised if he knocks this in. Oh, my goodness. Did we ever doubt him? Well, that's his seventh century of the week. Career number four-hundred-and-forty-two. Now, can he get the high break off Dominic Dale? He can still get one-hundred-and-forty. One-hundred-and-fifteen. And this is something he's done thousands of times. These last six colours all on their spots. Should have equaled it this afternoon. One-three-seven. This is better. He won't miss these. I wonder if Dominic is watching. I'm sure he is. Probably what he's saying at the moment is unrepeatable. One-hundred-and-twenty-seven. Well, Dominic sat and admired. There wasn't much else he could do when Ronnie was beating him yesterday. And now, I imagine, he's admiring him once again. This black then for a one-hundred-and-forty total table clearance by Ronnie the Rocket O'Sullivan. He's done it. As Ronnie O'Sullivan gets frame number twelve of a possible seventeen underway here in what's become an absolutely enthralling final. Well, Stephen Hendry is the highest player I can find at twenty years of age. He was at number three back in the 1989-90 season at the age of twenty. Ronnie actually got to number three, believe it or not, at nineteen. But, strangely, he slipped to number eight the following season when he was twenty. So, number three is what Ding has to aim for to equal these two guys, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry. If he continues in this sort of form, he'll be there. A little lucky to get the white down that far. There's no doubt he'll take this on. Well, I think he had to have a go at it. One. Accessible position. That's a bad miss. Didn't quite get the angle there. Yeah, it was a thin one. Well, well. Six. Seven. Lying this plant up to the left middle. Looks fairly set, actually. Ooh. Now, quite important in playing this plant to get high on the pink. Fourteen. Just bring the other two reds into play. See if he plays that. He didn't get high. Fifteen. So, he's still got work to do. A quarter ball. Ooh, he's got the double kiss. That could be disastrous for him. Well, that was the mistake Ronnie was looking for. If he goes six all, I would put him favourite. White's stopped. There might be obviously enough of the pink. Seven. I think the pink's available to the left corner there. Let's see how he plays this one. If not, back for the blue. Eight. There's your answer. Fourteen. Fifteen. Twenty-one. Twenty-two. Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty-five. Thirty-six. Forty-two. Ronnie O'Sullivan. Forty-two. Good forty-two for Ronnie there. So, not guaranteed a position on a colour. Now, can he avoid this second red here? Ooh. Now, the red's gone over the corner. I'm sure that one is the red that Ronnie will take on. Indeed it is. Three. Four. Ten. Thirty-two the lead. He's got fifty-nine on the table though. Eleven. Needs one more red and a colour. Eighteen. If he holds the black here, we're up for the pink. Nineteen. It's game on. It certainly is, because it's got to be six frames apiece. Good fight back by Ronnie. Twenty-six. He had to turn it on this evening, and he has done. He's taken three frames to dingin' wheeze one so far this evening, which is exactly what he needed to do. It's really set up the rest of the evening perfectly, hasn't it? Thirty-seven. Thirty-nine. Forty-two. Forty-six. Fifty-one. Ding knows he's got a battle on his hands if he's to get his third ranking event victory. Tremendous cue power to go all the way round the table. Now then, can he find a pocket for the black? There are six on them. Gone. A cracking match. Here we go. Frame thirteen of a possible seventeen. It's all square, six apiece. First to nine takes the title. Just caught that red far too thin in playing the safety. Wanted to avoid the other one, of course. It's not too bad. And he got a perfect cannon on the black. Ooh, slow down. It's got to hit the blue. Well, it's not bad. He's been fortunate there, because if it didn't hit the blue, he might have been out of position. Not quite sure what he was trying to do there. Mine. It's okay, though. Just make sure of the potting angle. He'll collide into another red and concentrate on the pot. Let the rest happen. Well done. Sixteen. Seventeen. Twenty-four. Twenty-five. Thirty-two. Thirty-three. Forty. Forty-one. Forty-six. Forty-seven. Fifty-four. Wriggled a little bit, but it went in. If he gets a good split. Let's just have a look at this red. It's a little bit away from the cushion. And he's already looking at the right-hand side of the pack here. Splitting nicely, but is he on one? Well, one down the side cushion. Sixty-two. Another fifty-plus breaker. I think from the quarterfinal onwards with all the matches, it's been a very high standard indeed. This red, this red, this red. Ooh, not quite. He's got to cover it, and he hasn't. Needs one red. Seven. This is frame ball then. This was seven-six in his favour. Eight. Fourteen. Fifteen. He's within two frames of a famous victory. The nineteen-year-old. Twenty-three. Imagine if he should go on to win this. Three famous victories over three of the biggest names that the modern game has ever seen. Stephen Hendry in the China Open. Steve Davis in the UK. And Ronnie O'Sullivan here. He's not done it yet, but he's certainly shaping up for it. Well, it doesn't matter because he's missed that. He's won the frame. Caught the red on the thick side. Bad shot. Well, he's been playing with that looped bridge, that pool bridge that he's developed. One of those down the cushion that he's been knocking in here this week. Plays with great confidence, this young man. Six. Seven. Twelve. Thirteen. Just checking to see whether the red will go after he's got the black, and I think it will. Twenty. Twenty-one. Twenty-eight. Well, he's certainly been well supported this week. And when you've got exciting young players like this, Mike, it's no great surprise. Absolutely. You know, you've got the biggest draw in the game, without a doubt, Ronnie. And this young star. So, you know, this will split a few. Make sure of the pot. Last words. Make sure of the pot. And he's got the cover. Can you believe it? He's been very lucky there. I thought the other one might go for that one as well. That's the one he wanted to play. Still expecting to get this. Well played. Let's see if he can put something really substantial together here. No, he went to split a few more. Four. Can't see that one. Missed the blue there. Play it into the centre, but it's still on. And he's got options of the yellow. This is a stretch. Even left-handed. He's effortless. Don't think the black goes to the left corner. So, he's going to have to do something with the whites here, to get on something. Deep screw shot. That's okay, he's got the blue. Eight. Had second thoughts, didn't it? I think he'd have third thoughts. Thirteen. Fourteen. Ronnie knows this is a must-win frame. If he loses this one, he has to win the last three on the bounce. Twenty-one. And he's going about it the right way at the moment. Twenty-two. No, he went to go past that red. He's left that white near to the side cushion, and he's the wrong side of the blue. So, this will need a good shot to get anywhere near these reds. He's got to play this with power. These are missable. Not on this occasion. Great cueing. He's done well to get there. Twenty-four. Still needs a good putt to continue, though. Yes, does he take this one on, or does he not? Oh, absolutely. He is taking it on. He's in that sort of mood. No. Has he left it? Yes. Ronnie O'Sullivan, twenty-seven. Well out. He's been trying to putt his way out of trouble on one or two occasions in this break, and he's not got away with that one, unfortunately. I was about to say, a putt too far. One. Remember, Ding came to the table nine points ahead still. That makes it ten. Deep screw back off the yellow. He did it slightly. He should be able to run this one in and just slide off the other red for the black. Even the pink might be available to the middle. Four. He's got choices here. Pink's the wrong angle. He could play this with a touch of left-hand side, get the other side of those two reds into the corner. It actually looks like he's holding for the reds to the middle. If he can get two reds, two blacks, he won't need that red-on-the-side cushion. He sits in front with only 35 on the table. 19. 20. So this black becomes frame ball, and a very, very important frame ball. And he's gone to flick the black, the last red out. Not quite succeeded, but Ronnie requiring a snooker. Crash double to make sure. No. Ding Chunhui, 27. Good shot. Got the snooker. I think Ronnie might have to come off the side and the back cushions here. He's got to hit this, otherwise he might concede the frame. Has he got it safe? No, that will do. No. Good shot. Oh, he didn't want that. Oh, hang on. He might have got the snooker. Well, that's one way of doing it. Put that one down in the memory banks. No, he's got the snooker. Nearly returned the compliment there. Chance for Ronnie to lay one here. Not quite. No, he can get through to this red. He can pot it as well. He's going for this. He's looked at the potting angle. He knows this is for 8-6. Ronnie needs a snooker, but if he goes in, it's a definite. Oh, hard luck both times. Well, he had two goes at it, didn't he? Right, now then. Will Ronnie pot this red, pot pink and black, and try and lay the snooker? One of the pot colours? Possibly. Oh, he's gone the other way. Not quite. Can you see that? It's going to swirl a little bit. Around the pink. It's Ronnie who needs snookers. Ronnie will not be best pleased. Cracking shot. Good hit. Hang on, though. He's left it. Frame over. Concession? Yes, he's conceded the frame. And that's a vital frame concession. Dean needs just one. Ronnie needs to win all three. Who would have thought this at the start of the evening? Of the remaining frames of the afternoon. Ronnie, first in, in his 15th frame. And that's a defiant pot he's just got there. He's been here before, though, hasn't he? Remember the final of the Welch Open against Steve Davies? He was 8-5 down there, won the last four. Not too happy with that one, though. Ronnie O'Sullivan, 8. This young man is going to be amongst the top three or four favourites in the betting every time, in my opinion. Yes, he will be now. If he lifts the trophy, he could be lifting the trophy in the next 15, 20 minutes. 9. Absolutely, definitely. 28. 29. I don't think there's one at the back of the pack there. He's going to have to move something. That's OK. There's one there. 36. Could he be on the way to putting Ronnie O'Sullivan out of this final? 40 that he got back in frame 11. This is an important shot. 37. The thing I like about Ding, Mike, is the fact that he doesn't have a problem getting over the winning line. I would suggest that if Ding Xinwei is the one to lift the trophy, he will get a tremendous reception from the crowd here. 45. Red to left centre. 52. Yet another of these half-centures of which we have seen so many. Incredible. It's been an incredible standard this week. 53. Especially from these two. Well, I should play the blue here, actually. He's got the angle on the yellow to screw directly back for these two reds. 50 points the lead. He's looking at the blue to stand down for the red right of the pink. He's looking ominous now for Ronnie. And I think he might be able to just take a look at the shot of the crowd. He might be able to just take this red away from the pink here, leave himself pink to the middle. Oh, wow. It's on. The pink is on. It's got to be as I feel. 57. This will make it 63 with 59 on. This is frame and match ball. He's there. What a great performance again from this young man. He's come to the fore once again. 72. But you've got to remember, Ronnie has entertained us this week. Ronnie O'Sullivan has played some fantastic snooker. Especially in that semi-final yesterday against Dominic Dale. We thought he might be the favourite here today. But this young man has really put it together on the day. He's looking to transfer these two reds so he can finish off with a century, you know. 83. Never mind. An 83 will do. I don't think he cares. The 83, enough to give him the frame, to give him the match, to give him the Northern Ireland trophy. Ronnie O'Sullivan offers the handshake but he must feel a little disappointed. Ronnie O'Sullivan loses to Ding Xun Hui. Ding wins 9-6.