And then there were two. Click below for updates from the final of the 2010 12bet.com World Open between Neil Robertson and Ronnie O’Sullivan which is now underway…
Frame One
A good crowd in tonight to see what is a very difficult match to call between two of snooker’s best players at the moment.
The first chance in the opening frame falls to Neil but he can make just 6 before missing a very surprising red. O’Sullivan reacts well but with the break on 43, he screws back into the left-centre pocket and gives Neil a chance to get back into it – which he takes well to leave O’Sullivan eventually needing snookers. Ronnie tried hard and did force one error from Neil, but eventually the Australian sunk the blue to secure a 1-0 lead.
Frame Two
Neil continues his strong start to the match with a nice opening red to the left-centre, can he win a frame in one-visit here?
He certainly can as although he ran into various difficulties during the middle of the break, he rarely looked like missing and eventually ended on 107 as he moved into a very impressive 2-0 lead. An excellent start from the Australian, although we haven’t really had a chance to see how well Ronnie is playing yet…
Frame Three
Interesting start to a crucial third frame tonight as following an early 18 we have seen a fabulous exchange of safeties between the two. Who will blink first? A brilliant shot from O’Sullivan puts Neil in behind the yellow and a misjudged escape has given O’Sullivan his first big chance…which he takes brilliantly, a break of 72 from nowhere getting him right back into the match.
Frame Four
O’Sullivan is really in the groove now, he’s even got a long red…but he misses on seven and lets Neil back to the table. A horrible kick on just eight looked like it might end the break early but he has recovered well to get topside on the blue. Into the reds he goes but it hasn’t worked out as he hasn’t come nicely on a red.
A brave shot from Robertson as he takes on a plant from distance doesn’t come off however and despite getting a good cue ball, Ronnie has bent the white around the brown brilliantly to knock in a long red. Chance to level the match at the interval…
But he cannot take it, a very surprising miss on the pink giving Neil a chance to get back to the table much quicker than I am sure he had expected. With balls on cushions he has work to do yet but you already feel that this could be a crucial break to the outcome of this match. This is what I love about matches with an interval, the difference between going into matches with the score at 3-1 or 2-2 when you have 10 minutes to contemplate things is great from a psychological point of view.
And Neil takes it with a brilliant plant to conclude a very nice break. He’s not missing anything easy at this stage…
Frame Five
A big frame for O’Sullivan but following an early miss on a red to the left-centre, he hasn’t been given another shot as Neil takes it with 66 to leave himself needing just one more. If anyone can come back it’s O’Sullivan though…
Frame Six
For a while this looked as though it might be a turning point as Robertson having got in and made a break of 30, missed a blue at pace to the right-centre pocket and O’Sullivan responded by potting a superb blue to the left-middle to get himself going.
O’Sullivan however just began to run slightly out of position and it eventually caught up with him as he missed a mid-distance red to the yellow pocket to let Neil back into the frame. A period of safety followed before what proved to be a costly foul from Ronnie, potting both the cue ball and the yellow when intending to play safe off a red.
Neil then had the task of clearing to the pink, something that was far from straightforward as he couldn’t quite get himself into perfect position but the way he has played this week, he did not look like missing and an excellent pink ensured that he would become the 2010 World Open champion!