Ronnie O’Sullivan punched the table in frustration after missing chances to move into a commanding lead going into the final day of his World Championship match against old rival John Higgins.
Having led 9-4, O’Sullivan lost the final three frames of the second session to be pegged back to 9-7 going into Monday afternoon when the first man to 13 will take their place in the quarter-finals.
O’Sullivan’s anger boiled over in the final frame of the session, which he had several chances to win, although his annoyance had clearly also built up during the previous frame when he had failed to convert a wonderful opening chance to move 10-5 ahead.
Ronnie O'Sullivan shows his frustration after this miss at the Crucible 💥📺 Watch the World Snooker Championship live on TNT Sports and HBO Max pic.twitter.com/VzPY7tg2lu
Higgins did make an outstanding clearance in that penultimate frame before also winning the deciding frame of the evening on the black to win the session 5-3 despite being far from his best.
O’Sullivan should at least take solace from the fact that he has generally looked sharper these past two days then Higgins but he will know that a major opportunity has been missed and that the momentum – for now at least – has swung against him for the first time in the tournament.
WHAT A SESSION! 🐐John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan treated the Crucible to a session rich with drama.#WorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/Oo0Nao8Tcj
Had O’Sullivan taken Frame 14 to a black-ball shoot-out, finished off Frame 15 from 55-0 up and not gone in-off on that final red of Frame 16, the scoreboard might have had a finalistic 12-4 feel to it. Instead it reads 9-7, with all to play for in the final session after Higgins dug deep when he appeared to be at his lowest snookering ebb.
This match resumes at 1pm on Monday. You will not want to miss the conclusion, so it might be advisable to start laying down the groundwork for an impromptu work-from-home day...
You get the sense that whoever wins Frame 16 will have a significant psychological advantage coming back tomorrow. That seems to be clear in both players’ minds as they trade early misses. O’Sullivan miscues a tricky red into the yellow pocket along the left cushion and strikes the table in frustration.
Higgins is back in and appears to have his mojo back, taking each ball as it comes. A long blue is backed up with a tidy red but, just as Higgins looks on course for a frame-winning break, the cue ball rears off the right cushion and edges towards and then into the left middle pocket.
O’Sullivan gets to 53 and is left with a long red into the yellow pocket that is essentially frame ball, but it wobbles in the jaws. Higgins then misses an almost identical shot into the opposite pocket to draw oohs from the Crucible crowd, which is living every twist and turn of this absorbing contest.
The drama then ramps up another notch as Higgins leaves the red over the right corner pocket with only a little cover from the yellow. O’Sullivan swerves and pots the red but goes in-off. With ball in hand, Higgins makes no mistake, meaning he reels off four of the final five frames of the session. It is 7-9.
A costly error from Ronnie O'Sullivan allows John Higgins back into the match 😱The Rocket leads by two frames ahead of the final session 👀 pic.twitter.com/lDFFP4nN40
This is building into one of the frames of the match, and it could be pivotal. O’Sullivan flexes his safety-game muscles, escaping snookers carefully laid by Higgins, but leaves a long red. The Scot summons all of his technical might to sink it and picks off the remaining colours to claim a massive, massive frame. What a clearance.
Timeless CLASS! 🙌#WorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/RFSa2Smjjp
O’Sullivan was leading this frame 55-0 and had Higgins looking down the barrel of a 10-5 deficit. But instead it is 9-6 heading into the final frame of the session.
It probably speaks to Higgins’ addled state of mind that he takes on a ludicrously ambitious five-ball plant. It does not come off, of course, and O’Sullivan is at the table with the reds well and truly developed.
There is a potentially problematic red tying up the pink into the left corner pocket but even that disappears as a matter of course. O’Sullivan looks to be full steam ahead to tick off yet another frame, but his break is abruptly halted at 55 when a tricky red into the right right corner pocket does not go.
It would be massive if Higgins could snatch these last two frames of the session, and he seems almost to be at one with the cue ball, building a solid 25 break before having to play safe.