Snooker: Ronnie O'sullivan in Need of Ranking
Ronnie O'Sullivan progressed into the quarter finals of the China Open with an unconvincing 5-4 win over Allister Carter.
Unless Ronnie O'Sullivan wins this week's China Open, he will go to the World Championship at Sheffield on April 21 without having won a ranking title for 25-months.
His perilously achieved 5-4 win over Allister Carter from two down with three to play at least sees him contesting a quarterfinal today against Hong Kong's Marco Fu. Although he has won three invitation events this season, the Betfred Premier League, the Masters at Wembley and the Kilkenny Masters, his fourth, often at the mercy of his volatile temperament, has been inconsistent.
He attributed yesterday's patchy performance chiefly to the lingering effects of jet lag: "I haven't slept for 24-hours and I felt tired. "I should have lost. I expected Ali to win with the chances he had. He should have put me away."
O'Sullivan's long potting was erratic and he was reluctant to resort to safety but his close control and fluency were little effected and, in concert with Carter's frailties within sight of victory, proved decisive. Assisted by a break of 100 Carter led 3-1 and 40-0.
O'Sullivan made 73 to salvage that frame but the World No15's 92 put him within a frame of his first victory over the twice World Champion at his sixth attempt. Carter's first match clinching opportunity came at the end of the seventh frame when he failed to pot the green along the baulk cushion with the remaining colours invitingly placed.
O'Sullivan took that frame without further ado and from 29 behind cleared with 53 to force a decider that he opened with three failed pots from distance and a miss hit safety. With Carter, though, having accumulated only 23 from the ensuing chances, O'Sullivan made a match winning 65 in a manner more befitting a relaxed exhibition engagement, amusing the huge crowd in the Beijing university gymnasium by potting his next red a mere fraction of a second after the referee's glove had left each respotted colour. "I was trying to play quickly rather than think about anything," O'Sullivan explained.
His perilously achieved 5-4 win over Allister Carter from two down with three to play at least sees him contesting a quarterfinal today against Hong Kong's Marco Fu. Although he has won three invitation events this season, the Betfred Premier League, the Masters at Wembley and the Kilkenny Masters, his fourth, often at the mercy of his volatile temperament, has been inconsistent.
He attributed yesterday's patchy performance chiefly to the lingering effects of jet lag: "I haven't slept for 24-hours and I felt tired. "I should have lost. I expected Ali to win with the chances he had. He should have put me away."
O'Sullivan's long potting was erratic and he was reluctant to resort to safety but his close control and fluency were little effected and, in concert with Carter's frailties within sight of victory, proved decisive. Assisted by a break of 100 Carter led 3-1 and 40-0.
O'Sullivan made 73 to salvage that frame but the World No15's 92 put him within a frame of his first victory over the twice World Champion at his sixth attempt. Carter's first match clinching opportunity came at the end of the seventh frame when he failed to pot the green along the baulk cushion with the remaining colours invitingly placed.
O'Sullivan took that frame without further ado and from 29 behind cleared with 53 to force a decider that he opened with three failed pots from distance and a miss hit safety. With Carter, though, having accumulated only 23 from the ensuing chances, O'Sullivan made a match winning 65 in a manner more befitting a relaxed exhibition engagement, amusing the huge crowd in the Beijing university gymnasium by potting his next red a mere fraction of a second after the referee's glove had left each respotted colour. "I was trying to play quickly rather than think about anything," O'Sullivan explained.
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