The Champion's Luck | Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Sunny Akani | 2017 UK Championship L16 ‒ Part 2

Sonny Makani breaks off in frame six. He leads this match. He leads Ronnie O'Sullivan. Three frames to two. Both reds beside the black. He can drop on either of those. Even, well, he's got to putt the blue first. Ronnie O'Sullivan one. Definitely frustrated. Ronnie O'Sullivan tonight. One. Don't know whether that was the right time to go to the pack there. Eight. Yeah, it was okay if he was hitting the other side of the reds. He had the two near the black with a little bit of insurance. I think he just mishit that cannon. Not the best safety shot from Ronnie there. Just cued across that one slightly. I'll tell you what, he almost missed that, Ronnie. White has finished up in no man's land. That's a great recovery putt after the disappointing positional shot he played. Four. So he's having to work quite hard for this because I don't think he's got a good angle on the yellow and not the best of angles on the green. Ronnie O'Sullivan four. The best safety shot that he's ever played. He should have had the white tight on the cushion somewhere behind the brown. Now where's this red going to finish up? He's good enough just to keep the whole game awkward. Even that, that's a poor positional shot. He fluked it. One. He certainly can put him in a lot of bother now. Just talking to himself there, Ronnie. He's struggling when it goes to a scrappy game. Is Sonny taking this yellow on? This is positive. Well a lot of players would have just tickled in behind the yellow there. I think if he just plays a little cannon on the other red, he'll leave the blue available here. And there's that cue action. And that little flick has freed the black as well. It's amazing that, just have a look, have a look at this. Good shot but just to nudge the red away from the black and be on the blue. What a chance. Even though he's nudged that red away from the black, it still doesn't pop. Ten. I've certainly never seen this young man from Thailand play before. Ranked 84 in the world. Long way to go. 70. Absolutely dead straight on the black. So he either goes through or comes straight back. No angle to work with there. And this is a tricky one he's left himself. 32. This is probably just as difficult as the yellow was. But played it well. 33. 40. What's the extension made out of? 41. You say the only weakness in that technique would think if he needed a lot of power. I think he would struggle then. Nice bit of great shot there. A little bit unlucky. He hit that very well. 48. That was dreadfully unfortunate but look at the position he's got himself in here. He only needs the red. Well you need to be quick to play that shot. Not many snooker players could have got themselves into that position. He should have absolutely made sure there. Ronnie needs one snooker and if he doesn't get it this young man's going to lead by two frames. One. So could that be a lifeline? He can't believe he's missed the black. Eight. Ronnie O'Sullivan eight. One long straight pot and it's 4-2. He hasn't missed it this time. And there is a potential shock on the cards. Eight. Nine. He said earlier myself included thought 6-0. 6-1 Ronnie O'Sullivan. There's no doubt. 11. He's got O'Sullivan rattled. O'Sullivan needs to get his focus back quickly. 13. There's plenty of time. As long as your opponent needs two frames there's always plenty of room for margin for error but. 20. O'Sullivan doesn't want to lose the next frame. 25. 31. He wants the black as well. Brilliant performance. Leads Ronnie O'Sullivan four frames to two. Dennis he's not shying away from the big shots is he Sonia Kani tonight. Just at the end of that little shot as we seen Sonia Kani in his chair there was a little smile. So everyone said he's got to go out there and just enjoy it because they're not expecting a great deal. But that is a very ambitious shot that he's taking on with the balls as they're situated. Well if he misses it again I'll make a prediction he pots the red if he has to go for it. So he has to make contact with the red now. He'll get the warning from Jan Verhuis. He's virtually forced to go for this long red now. He's got to hit a red otherwise he loses the frame. I bet Ronnie Half expects him to pot this as well. Prediction even Ronnie has to smile there. Sonia Kani one. He's pushed a red towards the pocket. He's got a good cue ball. The black's tied up. Can he find the gap? Sonia Kani one. Doesn't want to hit the green. He needed a slightly thinner contact than that. One. Needs to get a bit of momentum going again. Ronnie O'Sullivan at the minute he's been out scrapped in this match. The plan was to hit one of the reds. That's when you know it's not going for you. There's two reds to hit but you hit the black. Put it in the middle of the pack. Five. Six. Short on the blue. Leave the red from distance. Eleven. This would be some effort to win the frame at one visit. The way the colours are. Twelve. He's just the wrong side of the blue. He wanted to get that red away and then the path's clear for the split. Gonna have to take the one to the right of the pink now. Seventeen. Eighteen. It's not easy to get on the red I mentioned because he's ran a little bit too far. Straight into the bunch here I think. Just missed that red it's loose. Chose not to. He's going to get rid of that red anyway but as I say it clears the path. If he pots this and gets on the blue it's a clear path through to cannon the reds and Twenty-four. May have to play off two cushions here to go into the pack. Shot to me. Never looked on. Don't think he had enough angle on the blue. Twenty-nine. Twenty-nine. They're all important frames but this is a huge frame in the context of this match. Whoa. He's not going enough surely. Oh well he's struck that. Yellow ball. Eighty-eight percent. One puck success. Fifteen out of sixteen. And I'd love to play that one again. To lead 5-2 and just need one frame. What a chance he would have. And look at this. He could quite easily have put them right in amongst them there. There's still a pot on but he hit that so badly he could have put this young player right in amongst them and he would certainly have scored enough to have won the frame. He might still do but it's not an easy opener. Well this is risky. As we said he hasn't shied away from playing those shots. Yeah there was a bit of pressure on that one and I thought he was going to be lucky but the red has come back over the pocket. One. Oh he's just okay. I mean the last color he was trying to play on was the yellow. Yeah you've seen my run his reaction when he landed on the yellow. To me shows how much pressure he's under. Total relief to be on something. Three. Such a mess the positional shot for the black. Four. Seventeen. It'll be a relief Ronnie O'Sullivan because when he played a poor safety shot and could have left his opponent right in amongst them. Twenty-two. Well I think you'd have to say that Ronnie O'Sullivan back favorite now for the match even though he's going to be trailing by a frame. Ronnie O'Sullivan. Twenty-three. Very careless but barring snookers. Ronnie O'Sullivan should have pulled one back. That's four snookers. Four points snookers to tie. Six. Sonny Akani. Six. Yeah frame conceded. Frame Ronnie O'Sullivan. Well in fact he has conceded. Sonny Akani. Ronnie O'Sullivan. It was a big frame for him to win. He has won it. He only trails four three now. Sonny Akani gets the eighth frame underway in this fascinating tussle. The black has gone into the bunch. Might not be tied up. Brilliant. Has he gone into the pack from this green? He is. Oh no he's not. I thought he was and he missed it but I apologize Sonny Akani. Four. He did have a look you know at the red to the left of the black. If it had been dead straight up into the corner past the green he would have taken that and he would have been on the black. Ten. Imperative if it gets high in the blue here and I don't think it has. Eleven. Well the red is still available. If he gets on the red he could I suppose play a cannon on the black to promote that towards the right corner pocket. Well that's what he's got in mind Stephen. Yeah that was number eleven. He had to play with a bit of stun there. He was going to get too thick a contact on the black. Bramble. Sonny Akani. Seventeen. Well he heard a slight groan from Ronnie. He thought he was going to get a double kiss there. He hit that all wrong. I don't think I've ever seen Dennis hit so many bad safety shots. He's left a possible pot here. This is quite an attacking shot. He's not guaranteed and I think he's making the right choice here. But even there that's a bit careless. It's a bit of concentration and focus that's lacking at the moment in Ronnie's game. And it's very hard. You can't switch on your concentration. It's a light switch. Once it goes it's very difficult to get it back. That's a much better safety shot. I missed it way thin but well that half ball contact in the green has helped. Played it with a trace aside to swing it over towards the yellow. Up until that attempt he potted 17 out of 19 long ones. Now what is this? Amazing where that finished up. Green ball. Foul. And a miss. Ronnie O'Sullivan one. Green ball. Foul. And a miss. Green ball. That's what he's looking for there. On the other side this time. Foul. And a miss. Green ball. Better. That's better. Terrific shot here. Absolutely terrific. Acknowledged by Ronnie. Not quite but pretty good cue ball also. Well this time he definitely has made a mistake now. And Ronnie getting a colour this time. Possibly play for the black. I think he did. He's on the pink. Second prize. He can play for the black this time. Seven. Pink gone in the black spot. Eight. There's five potable reds in the middle of the table there. And there's three awkward reds. Fifteen. So we pick off the loose reds before he thinks about the difficult ones. Twenty-one. Hit that one very well. Twenty-two. Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. He's going to need a couple of the difficult reds. Thirty-five. That's six reds and six pinks. And he's got the perfect angle on the pink to get them in play. Now has the one blocked the other up into the corner? Is there just enough room? He's worked this breakout very well indeed. Still going to need that difficult red. Fifty-six. Can screw right in behind it. He got into it too much there. Sixty-one. Ronnie O'Sullivan. Sixty-one. I just don't think Ronnie wants to leave Sonny Akani any long pot. I think he thinks he's going to get it. Pretty nothing shot Ronnie played there. That safety shot. Well he's played it with a lot of pace just to try and get a bit of distance between the red and the white. Sonny Akani. But the fact that he played it at that pace come off at a different angle. Is there any colour now with this last red? Very difficult for Sonny to win the frame of this visit. Yellow, green and brown are situated. He can get right back into the frame. Down to put the yellow into the green pocket. He looks to have a decent angle on the pink. Let's say a decent angle on the pink. Just to play off the side cushion. That's very well played. Very well played. He's having the cue ball cleaned and he's coming around to look at the angle on the green. He could leave the brown for the middle pocket and he wouldn't have to hit it as hard. There's some pressure on this green. Cue action was just a little bit hesitant there. Has he got away with it? Ronnie just needs the green but it won't cut. Has he left a gap? He's knocked it towards the corner pocket. All depends on the bounce. Boy, this is a tough one. Don't blame him for that one little bit. That was the percentage shot that he played there. He's got the old dreaded double kiss. That was a little bit careless. That is a huge turning point in this match. You'd have to say it. Sonny Akane's chance for a major shock gone with that missed green. You'd have to say possibly. Although the way he's played tonight, the way things have gone on, you wouldn't write him off yet. But I think Ronnie winning this frame going back to 4-4 is, as you say, Dennis. Massive turning point in this match. He's going to have a go at the black as well but he'll be mightily relieved here. Doesn't matter about missing the black. That is a huge frame in the context of the match and Ronnie will be delighted to have taken it. And as he leaves the arena, he's all square now. Four frames each. Frame number nine and Ronnie gets it underway. Best of 11. It's now the best of three. Doesn't want to hit the reds. Well, decided not to risk coming back down the table and he's hit it all wrong. And he's put Ronnie straight in amongst them. Oh, hang on. Can you get your breath? Sonny Akane, four. Well, Sonny Akane can't get his breath. He hadn't time to finish his little sip of water there. And you just sense sometimes when that sort of thing happens, things can change around again. Well, how well has he played that? He deserves to be on something easy. Looking at that smile, he can't believe he hasn't finished on a red because that last shot, he couldn't have played it any better. Now, have a look at this. He absolutely landed on nothing. Oh, hang on. Is there a gap? Does the red go? Well done. Well done. I'll tell you what, Stephen, this boy's got a lot of bottle, hasn't he? Well, twice he's been two frames ahead. Twice Ronnie Sullivan has come back to make it level and he just keeps powering forward. 80. Oh, that's clumsy. Clumsy cue ball there, but it shouldn't be a problem to get on a red. You just play the shot you see. This would be a nice gap just to get through. He's gone too far. 23. Perfect. What a chance to go 5-4 up. 24. It's there. 31. 32. A little cannon on the pink here. Yep, played it well, using the pink as a stopper there. 39. 40. Yep. He played this shot to perfection, hit the pink full ball. Yeah, it was the control of the cue ball, wasn't it? He had enough action on the cue ball to keep it in the middle of the table. 46. 47. Oh, look where he's put the cue ball here. He's only a few pots away from getting himself back in the lead again. Too far. The cue ball's travelled there. Oh, this is tough. Great shot. Great shot. I keep waiting for him to show real weakness, Dennis, and it's not happening. Yeah. Does he realise where he is? He's in the Barbican playing. 61. That's the frame secure. I mean, this is unbelievable. 62. 69. His highest break in this year's Betway UK Championship was a break of 79. 78. 86. 93. 94. He's made 14 in his career. That's number 15, but that would probably be one of the best centuries he's made in his short professional career. What a time to do it. 103. His highest break as a professional is 125. He could beat that here. He won't be thinking about that, I'm sure. 110. 115. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. 121. Possibly the biggest shot of the tournament so far. Two and a half hours for nine frames. That's pretty rapid. That's a good safety. That's opened a few reds up, and he's got a good cue ball. Well, he hit the wrong red. He was just playing to land into the bunch there. No wonder he's smiling. He should never have had this chance. I'll tell you what, this is pressure on Ronnie O'Sullivan. It's a different pressure than, say, you're in a final against another one of the best players in the world. This is pressure not to go out against world number 84. It's a different kind of pressure. Seven. Eight. 14. He's going to have to work hard at the moment because of the pink and the black, as they are. The black may be available into the left corner, but you'd have to be very precise to leave that. 18. He'd have to get the white into a gap, so he's not going to risk that just yet. 19. Until he clears a few reds out of the way. 24. Now he's got the black in play. Gentle little cannon here. He didn't play it well there. Didn't play this as he intended. He hit that red on the right side. It should have been a full ball contact. 33. I'll tell you what though, Stephen, the focus is back, isn't it? 38. Cubo control, isn't it? He's really having to work hard for this. It looks like he can't believe how awkward he's leaving himself. I think he got a bit of a big bounce off that cushion there. Well, I thought the focus was back, but... Stop shouting out, please! Yeah, we don't want shouting out. One. Angling the black. Oh, he's not going into the pack. Okay. And there's red, but the rest of the match he's not shied away from the positive shot. No. Yeah, it's coming up now though. He shot this. Oh, it's finished awkward. There's still one pot, possibly two reds will go, but they're both awkward. One to the corner, one to the middle. 16. To the right corner. 17. Oh, that's handy. That red going over the middle pocket. Nothing special to do with the cue ball. Oh, that's pressure. Sonny Akani. 17. That's all that is. That's possibly seen the winning line just in the distance. Pure pressure. One. There's a few awkward reds here. Lovely shot. Had to kiss that red half ball to leave it to the right middle. Nope. Ronnie O'Sullivan. Eight. This is incredible. I actually don't believe what I'm seeing. And what he hasn't done all night is follow one bad shot with another one. Okay, he's played some, but he's never let it bother him. And you'd think this is the kind of shot that this action would suit, because all he needs to do is just drop the red in. Looking right down the line of the shot. Oh, it has gone in. I thought it had gone wide. One. Eight. For the pink, leave an angle to take that red off the cushion. He's going to play black. Well, Ronnie can just sit and see what develops here, because. 16. Sonny Akani is now looking at the angle he needs on the colour to bring that red into play. No. 17. I don't think it's gone quite far enough. He may have to play for the other red now. Yeah, there was just enough room to go around the back of it. 24. Well, that's a good cue ball, but where is the red going to finish up? Sonny Akani. 24. He seems to have a smile after every shot he plays. He's still smiling. I don't think even he can quite believe the position is up in this match. It's gone safe, that red that he missed. It's not bad. Now, where's this red going to end up? Looks like Ronnie's going to have some sort of pop to the left middle. A little bit of determination in Ronnie's face when that went in. Watch this shot here. He's got an angle here. Here comes the cue ball, and he's been unlucky. He could quite easily have knocked that over the corner pocket. Doesn't want the red in. Ronnie O'Sullivan. Three. I don't think he's got the snooker. Now, he can send this across the table. No, he's played it the other way, which looks good to me. Snooker to get out of. I think if you go for this, you've just got to go for 100%. Don't play it too hard. Just drop it in. You're bound to be on yellow, green or brown. He's on the brown, but he's going to have to get a bit of action on this to get nicely onto the yellow. Ronnie's planned to leave the long yellow. You need to have a lot of confidence to leave yourself that shot under these circumstances. Five. It's a very unorthodox shot choice, but if the yellow goes in, then who's to say it's wrong? It's there, and he's left himself an angle on the green. Seven. He looked at this previously. He looked at the possibility. If you're playing an exhibition, you'd pop the green and flick the blue out and hope to be on the brown. This is not an exhibition. The orthodox shot here. Topspin, two cushions to leave the brown to the same pocket. Giving up, predicting the shots he's going to play. He's played to take the blue off. How unlucky can you be? If that blue stays over the pocket, he can win the match. Dear, oh dear. That is so unfortunate. Thank you. Because he decided to play that shot because he knew if he had a pot of the green and brown, he was going to have a difficult blue. And how did he manage to knock it in when he potted the green? Three. That's his chance of winning this match gone. Seven. Ronnie can't believe that he's at the table because he knows that the shot that his young opponent took out was a brilliant effort. Doesn't matter about that. Ronnie O'Sullivan, 12th. That should be enough to take us into a deciding frame, but it's only one snooker that's needed. What has he done there? Oh, is it there? He can't pot it. It's just enough room to slip around the back of this pink. Have to be careful here. If the white goes in, the match is over. Well, everybody's smiling here in the Barbican Centre. Well, he's still smiling as this young Thai player, but that was so unlucky. This match could have been all over, but Ronnie will take it. And we're all square at five frames each. We've got a decider. Thank you. He smiles all around and he got a great reception as he came back into the arena. So Ronnie O'Sullivan breaks off. I didn't think I'd be saying it, but he breaks off In frame 11, we've got a one frame shootout. Doesn't want to hit the knuckle. Last shot is played. So we all know how well Ronnie closes out matches. That red go right in the centre of the pot. Six. Seven. Two reds near the black spot. They're both available to left corner. Those are the ones he wants to get on. 12. 13. Yeah, he can do that now and he fears the worst. Ronnie O'Sullivan. 13. Is that easier than the one Willie Thorne missed in this UK Championship, Dennis? It's not far away. Yeah, against the great Steve Davis. It was a similar shot that Willie missed and it cost him the UK title that year. Now, tension, pressure of a deciding frame. One. Yeah, just wasn't the smoothest delivery of the cue. Eight. Surely this time there's nothing that's going to surprise us, Dennis, tonight. Yeah, nice little cannon required here and he's played it perfectly. He's opened most of the game up. 16. 17. He'd have to do something careless but we've seen him do that. 25. It's hard to see where he can go wrong. I think the fact that he missed that blue will make Ronnie concentrate even harder. 33. 40. Ronnie will be full of praise for his young opponent here. Well, he's got a kick there. He's got a kick which has spoiled the position somewhat. Look at the black jump there. 47. Is there one more twist? Yeah, one more twist. Can you believe it? What a time to get a heavy contact. A couple of pots away from winning the match and he gets a bad contact. Okay, potted the black but he didn't get any side in the cue ball to avoid canning the reds but he's fortunate. The reds look pretty straight. Nine. It's taking his mind off the position. That's the pressure. Sixteen. Well, they're just off so if they're close together he'd have to hit the first red on the right side as we look at it to push it on, to squeeze it. It goes the opposite way when they're that close together. Looking at that you'd think if he hits it on the left side he'll make it into a plant but that's not the case. He's got to hit it on the opposite side. It's what we call a squeeze shot but Ronnie knows he's got a couple of reds that are awkwardly placed even if he makes the plant. We see if he hits it that side I think he won't pot it. It might squeeze away from the pocket. You see if he hits it that side with them being so close together he might miss this. Let's see. We've got the perfect picture. Yeah, I can't believe he couldn't work that out. He's only a young player and he hit the wrong side of the red there, Stephen. Thirty-nine. Just going slightly to the left side of the pocket but he can make that. Reds where Ronnie's just desperate to get this match over with. He really is. Yeah, and it's not the night that this Barbican crowd were expecting. Oh, what's happening here? What is happening here? His head's scrambled at the moment, Bruno Sullivan. It's not often you say that but you get the sense it's becoming too much of an ask for Sunil Kanhi to win this match now. Well, he did try to pot that because he knew the red wouldn't pass the pink but surely that was a bit too much even for the great Ronnie O'Sullivan to take on. Now can this young man hold himself together and get right back into this deciding frame? Six. I don't think he should be playing for the yellow. He needs the points on the board. He has done. Seven. This now needs a really good positional shot. Whereas if he's on blue or pink it's very straightforward. Yeah, that was tough. Nine. Sunil Kanhi. Nine. That might be okay. It wasn't quite as he played it but the pink has covered that red. Oh, the red hitting the yellow could be very costly. He only needs this red now. This young man has played stunning snooker this evening. Who knows he's put up a fantastic performance. Okay, Ronnie O'Sullivan's been far from his focus. Fourteen. But what a performance that young man's put up. Sixteen. And they're still cheering this young player as he leaves the arena.