FIVE-TIME-WINNER Ronnie O’Sullivan was on the verge of a quarter-final place in this year’s World Championship after going 12-4 up against Matthew Stevens on Sunday.
Now the ‘Rocket’ will need just one more frame to win the best of 25 contest when his match with the Welshman is played to a finish on Monday.
O’Sullivan made two rapid hundreds but once again at this year’s tournament he found himself flirting with disciplinary action after being spoken to by referee Olivier Marteel towards the end of the afternoon session.
Marteel had a word with O’Sullivan after the player made a hand gesture, believed to be directed at himself, after Stevens missed a red.
O’Sullivan escaped being fined in the first round after briefly playing in his socks after a new pair of shoes proved uncomfortable, completing the match in shoes belonging to tournament director Mike Ganley.
Although a breach of the rules, O’Sullivan’s action was not deemed sufficiently severe to warrant any punishment and it was a similar story on Sunday, although a tournament spokesman said any further unsavoury gestures could see the player docked a frame.
Meanwhile Australia’s Neil Robertson, world champion in 2010, continued to dominate his match against two-time runner-up Ali Carter.
Robertson, 6-2 up overnight, lost the first frame of Sunday’s play but then won the next five to go 11-3 ahead before his English opponent avoided the embarrassment of losing with a session to spare by taking the next two frames to leave the ‘Thunder from Down Under’ well-placed at 11-5 in front.
Shaun Murphy, who beat Stevens in the 2005 world final, was quickly into his stride against Joe Perry, going 7-1 up in the all-English contest, while Judd Trump edged 5-3 in front of Hong Kong’s Marco Fu.
Pity it’s nearly over. It was brilliant.
These games were fantastic. Helped me forget about the doom and gloom for a bit over the last two weeks. Loved the swimming,the track events& cycling Bolt and Co were amazing. And of course our own team did a great job. Hopefully it will inspire kids out there and bring pride back to this country.
I really enjoyed the games! Thought after the amazing opening ceremony everything that followed would be a let down but by god I was wrong! Absolutely loved watching the sports, some of which I had never seen before! London did good, it has to be said! And well done and congrats to all who flew the flag for Ireland! Ye all did us proud!(“,)
Great two weeks of entertainment and a chance to forget the doom and gloom. Just shows what a bit of success can do for our national sense of well being. We really needed the lift. Hope it’s not spoilt by petty wrangling over money and unnecessary interference by politicians. Best moments were of course Katie Taylor and the boxers and other great performances by Annalise Murphy, Cian O Connor, Rob Heffernan and Gavin Noble. A sport I had never seen before was the dressage and I found it fascinating. Horses can dance! Amazing!
Sweden playing France in the Handball not the Volleyball !
Two sports we do not Care about either way! Volleyball is only good if played on a beach by cute women ;)
What about the boxing officials sent hope and Russia saying boxing is fixed ???
And let’s not forget the thousands of Irish fans that made it over to London for the games, who otherwise might not have been able to go if it was halfway across the world, it probably is the closest we will ever have to a HOME GAMES so that has been fantastic, London should be proud of the games they have put on.