World Snooker Championship results: Ronnie O'Sullivan into semi-finals
RONNIE O'SULLIVAN is hoping to win a record-equalling seventh World Snooker Championship.
Laila Rouass responds to question about Ronnie O'Sullivan split
Ronnie O’Sullivan will reach the final of this year’s World Snooker Championship if he can get the better of John Higgins in their semi-final. O’Sullivan will land a record-equalling seventh title if he can overcome his rivals at this week’s Crucible tournament in Sheffield.
The Rocket barely had to break a sweat as he saw off Stephen Maguire 13-5 in the quarter-finals earlier this week. And that result came after a 13-4 victory over Mark Allen as he became the first player to reach 20 World Snooker Championship quarter-finals and the first player to win 71 matches at the tournament. And the Rocket is the strong favourite to lift the trophy once again.
O’Sullivan went into the tournament in fine form after returning to the top of the world rankings. And his snooker dominance certainly doesn’t appear to be on the wane at the age of 46.
But his fellow Class of 92 player Higgins won’t make things easy for O’Sullivan as he rides the wave of securing a deciding-frame win against Jack Lisowski in their last eight contest. Meanwhile, in the other semi-final, 2019 champion Judd Trump is taking on three-time winner Mark Williams. Trump defeated Stuart Bingham 13-8 in their quarter-final, while Williams dispatched Yan Bingtao 13-11.
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O’Sullivan has won one fewer World Snooker Championships than Stephen Hendry managed. But the Rocket revealed after his quarter-final victory that he doesn’t put himself on par with the Scot.
“Stephen is an all-time legend for me, the greatest player,” O'Sullivan said. “He was the Tiger Woods of snooker. Me, John [Higgins] and Mark [Williams] have all done well - but when he was flying he was a superstar. When there's three of us, we're not superstars. But when there's one man dominating the sport like he did, like Tiger Woods, it's a different level.”
But O’Sullivan admitted he is delighted to have come this far at this year’s tournament. “When it comes to the one-table set-up you can relax a bit more, and I'm excited still to be in the tournament and to get there,” O’Sullivan added. “I've had to learn to steady the ship and I think that's the key to being consistent - being able to minimise the bad spells.”
World Snooker Championship scores LIVE
Thursday, April 28
Mark Williams (Wal) 1-7 Judd Trump (Eng) (interrupted)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) 4-4 John Higgins (Sco) (interrupted)
Wednesday, April 27
RESULTS: Yan Bingtao (Chn) 11-13 Mark Williams (Wal)
Stephen Maguire (Sco) 5-13 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng)
Stuart Bingham (Eng) 8-13 Judd Trump (Eng)
Jack Lisowski (Eng) 12-13 John Higgins (Sco)
Round Two Results
Mark Selby (1) 10-13 Yan Bingtao (16)
Jackson Page 3-13 Mark Williams (8)
Kyren Wilson (5) 9-13 Stuart Bingham (12)
Anthony McGill (13) 11-13 Judd Trump (4)
Neil Robertson (3) 12-13 Jack Lisowski (14)
Noppon Saengkham 7-13 John Higgins (6)
Zhao Xintong (7) 9-13 Stephen Maguire
Mark Allen (15) 4-13 Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)
Round One Results
Mark Selby (1) 10-7 Jamie Jones
Yan Bingtao (16) 10-6 Chris Wakelin
Barry Hawkins (9) 7-10 Jackson Page
Mark Williams (8) 10-3 Michael White
Kyren Wilson (5) 10-8 Ding Junhui
Stuart Bingham (12) 10-5 Lyu Haotian
Anthony McGill (13) 10-7 Liam Highfield
Judd Trump (4) 10-4 Hossein Vafaei
Neil Robertson (3) 10-5 Ashley Hugill
Jack Lisowski (14) 10-8 Matthew Stevens
Luca Brecel (11) 5-10 Noppon Saengkham
John Higgins (6) 10-7 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Zhao Xintong (7) 10-2 Jamie Clarke
Shaun Murphy (10) 8-10 Stephen Maguire
Mark Allen (15) 10-6 Scott Donaldson
Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) 10-5 David Gilbert