FERGAL O’BRIEN HAS qualified for the World Snooker Championships for the first time since 2010, but that was only a minor detail on a frankly unprecedented night at Ponds Forge.
Dublin’s O’Brien trailed David Gilbert 6-3 at the start of play this evening, with the first man to 10 booking their place in the main draw when action begins at the Crucible Theatre on Saturday.
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Level at 9-9, the match went to a final frame decider, and that’s where things took a turn for the epic.
The final frame was unofficially timed at 1:59:40, a full 19 minutes longer than the previous record for the longest frame of snooker ever played.
“When I looked at the clock and it said 10 minutes after an hour and a half, I said the clock’s not even working at this stage,” an exhausted O’Brien said afterwards.
“It’s seven years, six times I lost this match (the final qualifier), so it would have been heartbreaking to lose again.”
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Fergal O'Brien qualifies for World Champs by winning the longest frame of snooker ever played (no, really)
FERGAL O’BRIEN HAS qualified for the World Snooker Championships for the first time since 2010, but that was only a minor detail on a frankly unprecedented night at Ponds Forge.
Dublin’s O’Brien trailed David Gilbert 6-3 at the start of play this evening, with the first man to 10 booking their place in the main draw when action begins at the Crucible Theatre on Saturday.
Level at 9-9, the match went to a final frame decider, and that’s where things took a turn for the epic.
The final frame was unofficially timed at 1:59:40, a full 19 minutes longer than the previous record for the longest frame of snooker ever played.
“When I looked at the clock and it said 10 minutes after an hour and a half, I said the clock’s not even working at this stage,” an exhausted O’Brien said afterwards.
“It’s seven years, six times I lost this match (the final qualifier), so it would have been heartbreaking to lose again.”
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Crucible David Gilbert Fergal O'Brien Snooker World Snooker Championships 2017