Ronnie O'Sullivan had to dig deep to beat Zhou Yuelong

Snooker results: Ronnie O'Sullivan defeats Zhou Yuelong in deciding frame to reach UK Championship semi-finals

By Sporting Life

Snooker

Sat December 02, 2023 · 2y ago

Ronnie O'Sullivan endured another huge fright in his quest for an eighth UK Championship title, before eventually beating Zhou Yuelong 6-5 in York.

O'Sullivan came through a deciding frame against Robert Milkins on Thursday and it was a case of rinse and repeat 24 hours later, the 47-year-old once again finding himself in big trouble when losing four frames on the spin to trail 5-4.

To his great credit, O'Sullivan dug deep, despite visibly struggling with his game, and after getting the better of a protracted safety battle in frame 10, produced a typically nerveless run of 77 to take the match all the way.

And when Zhou turned down a tough red from distance early in the decider, instead opting to dump the cue ball on the bottom cushion, O'Sullivan stepped up with a brilliant pot to the yellow pocket before quickly shifting gears and winning the match in fine style, a magnificent 122 featuring all the flair and poise of old as he sealed his place in an 11th UK Championship semi-final.

O'Sullivan had appeared set for a carefree afternoon when cruising into a 3-0 lead, helped by breaks of 125 and 68 in the opening two frames, Zhou once again looking in awe of an opponent who had whitewashed him twice in two previous meetings at this very tournament.

However, Zhou was afforded a foothold in the match when winning the fourth frame and it wasn't long before cracks began to appear in O'Sullivan's play, firstly an issue with his tip and then a host of unforced errors that allowed the Chinese to claw his way back into the contest.

Zhou Yuelong briefly took control

And Zhou looked by far the stronger player when dominating frames eight and nine to lead for the first time in the match, O'Sullivan dropping his head in disgust when missing the simplest of pinks, his tournament hopes unravelling in front of an expectant York crowd.

But their silence turned to cheers only moments later, the Rocket's latest late show leaving Zhou stunned but sending the Barbican Centre into a frenzy at the climax of another pulsating O'Sullivan epic.

“I was just waiting for something to happen and it did, and I played all right,” said O’Sullivan, who continues to play down his hopes of lifting the trophy on the 30th anniversary of his first success.

“I just couldn’t make 20, just missing balls all over the place, and he looked like he was gaining confidence. If I don’t find some form from somewhere I’m going to get beat here.”

O'Sullivan's opponent in the last four on Saturday will be Hossein Vafaei, the Iranian having come through a stern test against International Championship hero Zhang Anda.

Zhang made the early running, but Vafaei always had him in his sights and produced two fine breaks (106 and 56) at 4-4 to take the match by the scruff of its neck and march into the semi-finals.

Vafaei caused controversy ahead of their meeting at the Crucible in April, saying: "He's such a nice person when he's sleeping, you know?"

O'Sullivan replied 'it turns me on, I get off on it', and proceeded to win 13-2 with a session to spare.

Trump defies illness and Selby

Judd Trump continued to defy a bout of ‘flu which has laid low numerous members of the BBC and Eurosport commentary teams in York as he reached his second UK semi-final in nine years with a 6-3 win over Mark Selby.

Breaks of 100 and 93 swept Trump into a 4-0 interval lead before Selby launched his customary fightback, recovering from 5-1 down to 5-3 before Trump, who has been fighting illness since prior to his first-round win over Pang Junxu.

Victory no. 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ for Judd Trump 💪

He defeats Mark Selby 6-3 to reach the semi-finals at the Barbican as his brilliant season continues.#UKChampionship pic.twitter.com/W7OvpgVhMs
— Eurosport (@eurosport) December 1, 2023

“I’m still struggling,” said Trump. “I’m happy that I got through but I just felt a little bit horrible out there and I was going through the motions a little bit.

“You want to be able to give it everything in a tournament like this, but it’s just about having to grind it out because you’re not going to be feeling like this is every single tournament.”

Mark Williams and Ding Junhui served up a slice of snooker history in the eighth frame of their quarter-final, with the cumulative score of 101-94 in Williams’ favour beating the previous record of 192 by three points.

Ding, a former three-time UK champion, recovered to edge past Williams 6-5 with a 105 clearance in the decider, setting up a last-four clash with Trump on Saturday evening.