World Snooker Championship - Ronnie O'Sullivan wins final frame of session on a re-spot to take control vs John Higgins
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Updated 29/04/2022 at 18:14 GMT
John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan joined battle at 4-4 on Friday afternoon, but the latter took control of their World Championship semi-final at the Crucible with an impressive passage of play. The pair will resume on Saturday morning. Watch the World Championship and other top snooker live on Eurosport and discovery+.
Watch bizarre jump shot as O'Sullivan clears reds in strange fashion
Ronnie O’Sullivan won five frames on the spin, including a stunning re-spot on the final black of the session, to move into a 10-6 lead over John Higgins in their World Championship semi-final.
The pair resumed battle in the second session locked together at 4-4.
Higgins won the early skirmishes on Friday afternoon, but O’Sullivan cranked into life either side of the interval.
O’Sullivan won four frames on the spin, but Higgins looked set to cut the gap to two frames after O’Sullivan unfortunately committed a foul in the final frame of the session.
But he missed frame-ball black and O’Sullivan crafted one of the greatest 43 breaks of all time to force a re-spot and he took it to move four frames to the good going into the final two sessions on Saturday.
Higgins crafted a chance in the opening frame of the session, only to be halted in his tracks as he chipped a red in after potting a blue and O’Sullivan pounced to move ahead courtesy of a break of 73.
On two occasions in frame 10, Higgins was stopped by going in-off after pots. But he showed his nuggety temperament by shaking off the setbacks, potting the final red and the colours to level the contest.
After looking so good in the opening frame of the season, O’Sullivan struggled in the second and paid the price in the third for missing a plant that never looked on - which allowed Higgins to counter and move back into the lead at 6-5.
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O’Sullivan snapped out of his mini-funk to level the contest, being denied a century after the final red wriggled in the jaws of the bottom right and stayed above ground.
The frame after the interval saw O’Sullivan move ahead once again, and he was once again denied a century after breaking down in the 90s.
O’Sullivan had been doing the scoring, with Higgins pinching the tight frames. That changed in the 14th as O’Sullivan won an arm wrestle to open up a two-frame lead.
Higgins got in first but was unable to break the shackles and a counter from O’Sullivan followed by a winning battle in a safety exchange saw him move two frames ahead.
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O’Sullivan’s dominance continued in the 15th frame, as he knocked in his eighth half-century of the match to move three to the good ahead of the final frame of the session.
The world No. 1 got in again in the final frame of the session, but was forced to return to his chair after unfortunately seeing a red drop into a pocket following a split of the pack from the blue.
Higgins crafted a break of 53, but missed frame ball as he once again struggled to make a big contribution. He put himself through the mill, and O'Sullivan crafted a stunning break of 43, with the penultimate red and following black certain to feature on his highlight reel when he eventually hangs up his cue.
He cleared the colours to force a re-spot and after Higgins had missed it into the green pocket, O’Sullivan chipped it into the left middle to move four frames to the good and possibly break his opponent’s resolve.
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