One of the Most Dramatic Finals | Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Steve ...

Catastrophe! Yes, he played the cross-double. Steve Davis played one earlier and got it. There's plenty to do for Steve Davis. At least he's got a chance here. There's only two reds on the side cushions. In the last frame, the one before the mid-session interval, Davis cleared up in a position not dissimilar to this. No. There were two reds apparently safe on either side cushion, but he developed them both and carried his break to 53 to win the frame. 17. Well, you can see him getting far to 50 here, but at this stage, it would be a bit of an achievement to clear up, to say the least. Mind he surprised us all this week a few times, Clive. I don't know. He seems to have the air of believing that this is his night. More pleased than Bill Davis, his father on the right, young Greg, who himself is becoming a keen player, an old friend of mine from my Cardiff days, Albert Barrett in the middle. In the meantime, Steve has just slipped slightly out of position, wanted to be straighter on this red. It was missable. Steve Davis, 30. It was, but I didn't expect him to miss it. Sullivan forced to move the safest red. Would have liked the cue ball a little bit closer to the left cushion. Ronnie Sullivan is as good as they come in the middle pockets, I must say. Not to be this time. Worse to follow, the red's caught the knuckle and come back out. Davis would be disappointed. Disappointed to have missed at that range. Had a mistake from O'Sullivan. Davis won't keep missing. He's normally such a good rest player. He's overcut that one. Now then, can he get past this brown? I think he can. As Ronnie Sullivan looks on, clever, isn't it? I think as long as he played it with a slight degree of firmness, he was always going to be on the red, though. Into the lead with that black. He hasn't got a lot of angle here. My favourite looks to screw back possibly for the blue. Not enough to come out for the black, but get it from there to the last red. I don't think he's got the angle anyway to get too far up there. He can get up towards the centre pocket. The problem is you've got to force it. It seemed that he could have screwed the red back for the blue then, or the bar colours, but the chance has gone anyway. Davis undone by the forcing shot which was necessary for position then. Has to cannon the yellow from the blue. Oh, but forgot to pop the blue. Well, extraordinary to concede, though. Davis might not have cleared up, although he probably would. In his disgust, though, O'Sullivan concedes. Davis leads by eight frames to five, three up with four to play. But Ronnie needs to get the momentum back with him, I guess, and win this one first. He has to take it one at a time, surely. Oh, he does, absolutely. He's got to do just that. Take every frame one frame at a time, and just hopefully he'll feel the tension himself. If he can win two in a row and get back within one frame, he'll start getting nervous as well. Here he goes, maybe. What on earth is going to happen next? Ronnie O'Sullivan impulsively conceded the last frame when it was by no means certain that Steve Davis would have potted the necessary colours. But there was certainly nothing wrong with the long red, with which O'Sullivan started this one. Six. 14. You just get the feeling here that Ronnie O'Sullivan needs to make a lot of points. If he misses here, I think he's vulnerable at the moment. But so much talent, of course, he could just clear up at this visit. I agree, Terry. I think O'Sullivan's got a lot more chance of pulling this match out of the fire if they're quick frames. 30. He seems to be losing the ones which end up in a tactical battle of any kind. Three centuries O'Sullivan's had today. 38. 45. His cue power then coming into play. Perfect split. 46. 53. 54. Typical Ronnie O'Sullivan, this. 61. After that concession in the previous frame. There's always a time out there, I think you can see because of his own frustration, Clive, but there's always a time when you can get rid of that by doing something like that. And now it's like, well, I'll just go out there, see how it goes and relax a bit. And you could run frames off the blink of an eyelid. 69. 70. Up to 70 in 3 minutes 40 seconds. And already past the winning post. Barring three snookers in this frame. 85. 86. 93. 94. 102. Once he gets into a break, he's so fluent. He makes it look so easy. 109. It is easy when you're a genius. 116. He did make his first century when he was 10. 118. His first 147 in competition when he was 15. 118 on the frame. Would he have got that right-handed O'Sullivan in the match? But he's still got it all to do. He beat O'Sullivan in remarkable fashion that night. O'Sullivan 8-4 up. Davis 1-10-8. Can the maestro close out the match? On the seam. Obviously gets a bit tense out there at this stage. He slipped out of position straight away. Just got an unwanted clip then of one of the reds. To perfection. 17. This is Davis' 99th major final. He's won 73 titles. He's not blowing everybody away like he was in the 80s. 24. He's played like an old master restored today. 30. He looks all composed out there. He looks at peace with himself. I haven't seen him this way for a long time. And then just one loose red after this black. You have to think about moving one or two of them. 33. Missed the cannon. Foul. Knew that he was counting the second ball. Unlucky that the cue ball flew into the corner pocket. Yes, he was unlucky there. But at least he hasn't left a red on. A bit thin and therefore a bit speedy. Cue ball running in and out of bork. I do believe that the red second left of picture is a shot to nothing. He wouldn't be canning another ball. He was shaking his head just now. That was one of the worst safety shots he's played in this final. 3. 4. I don't think he's missed a ball left-handed. It's a great asset. He's looking good. 12. Well, he's OK. He didn't get the kiss on those reds. But I think he got one in the right centre. Maybe slightly awkward bridging. Made light of that. Beautiful shot. 25. The crowd's really enjoying it. 26. 32. Davis watching his 40-point lead disappear. 33. He didn't get the cannon quite right. 40. Renewed hope in the heart of Davis. Yes. He cluttered the butt of his cue on the floor. I thought he was going to play safety. But he's taken this thin cut on. He has to be careful not to foul a cue ball. What a shot. It's in his mind to go for just about anything that's potable. And he had to be quick to get the long cue and breast out of the way. 44. 45. Just when it looked as if he'd done the hard part. Just as well the brown was there. An effortless deep screw. For the yellow. 57. Needs only green in addition. 59. Davis led 40-0 in this frame. And luckily went in off. 62. Sullivan won the last frame with a break of 118. 66. His recovery is gathering momentum. 71. O'Neill Sullivan reduces the gap to a single frame. Davis now leads only by 8 frames to 7.