When a Shark Smells Blood | Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Stuart Bingham | 2014 UK Championship SF S2

Looking forward to this frame. Big frame in the match for both players. 4-1 and 3-2 is obviously a huge difference. It'll be interesting to see how Sullivan plays because he wasn't anywhere near his A game in those first four. And in the end he hit that red on the wrong side. This is a half chance for Stewart. He can stun round and miss the reds and it shouldn't be a problem. Five. Now he might have to play a cannon. So an early key shot coming up. That looks pretty good to me. What an early opportunity in this fifth frame. Eleven. Eighteen. Nineteen. He really does look composed out there, doesn't he? He's doing precious little wrong at the moment. He's keeping Ronnie in his seat and you can hear a pin drop at the moment. Thirty-four. Thirty-five. Just look at the difference in table time. Forty-two. Impressive stuff this. He's pretty much had the cue ball in a string. Forty-three. Fifty. Fifty-one. He's left himself too straight to play a cannon here. That was a poor shot. He'd be disappointed with that one. Another in the black. That was a good shot. He could avoid canning into the reds which was a good thing. Fifty-nine. So just this red and another colour and it's going to be four-one. Sixty-four. Stewart has dominated the match so far. Yeah, this is turning into a big test now for Ronnie. Sixty-five. I'm sure everyone came here today expecting the Ronnie O'Sullivan show just to continue. He's up against it. Seventy-two. Seventy-three. And he's doing it in style, isn't he? Almost missed the black there which wouldn't have mattered. Stewart had made a break of 142. Eighty-one. But this is top class. It really is. Eighty-seven. This will be his fifth century if he can go ahead and make one. Eighty-eight. There's been 86 centuries in this year's UK Championship. Ninety-five. A hundred and twenty-eight players started out here. One hundred and four. It doesn't get any simpler, does it, Snooker? Put along red and then clear up. One hundred and ten. You win the frame. Is it there? It is. One hundred and fifteen. A little exhibition shot there. That's one way of getting on the blue. One hundred and nineteen. The white's close to the pocket. That's another exhibition shot. I'll make sure the pink and black for a clearance. He had lots of side on that and he didn't avoid the double kiss. There you see the one that he can take on. That was a good safety shot he played previously. Oh, now then. That was a nervy one. What a test this is for the favourite. Seven. Eight. He wouldn't have been happy with that shot. Thirteen. Fourteen. It's an early key shot coming up here. No, that hasn't worked out. He's just got the one possible pot to the middle pocket. Nineteen. This is a tester. Never easy that. Ronnie O'Sullivan, nineteen. And the red will go to the right of the pink and red. And he can get on to the black. No. Stuart's starting to see the winning lane already. After that break in the last frame. The two reds he's missed. A little bit twitchy. One. Much too hard there. Three. Four. Five. That's not the best. He planned to slip past those two reds. Just pot the second of the two reds. It's tight, but it's there. Fourteen. Sixteen. He wants to be high on this pink. So he can disturb the bunch. He may be able to force an angle slightly. Pot the pink into the right hand side of the pocket as we look at it. I felt it was too straight. So he needs an angle now on the black. Twenty-three. I don't know if he can drop it in or go round the angles with a little bit of screw. And he's took his eye off the red. He got the positional side of it. O'Sullivan, twenty-three. Well, if there's a gap between the reds and the pink to pot this. It looks quite tight, but the muck always hit the pink. I thought it was quite tight. So suddenly with this 4-1 lead. And having cleared the table with 137 break. Stewart seems to have got himself under a little bit of pressure. Even though he leads 4-1. I don't know. We'll start to pick up on that. Start to think, no, maybe my opponent. Six. Can't get over the winning line. Seven. He's way short of the cue ball there. And once again, he's either over hitting them or just under hitting them slightly. But he still should be okay. He's not okay. He's far from okay. Okay, he leads by 57 points. But just needs that bit of confidence to get him back into his stride. Because his positional play has just gone astray. Yeah, he's not even, he's missing them by a long way, the pots. Well, he's played more bad shots in this frame than he has in the whole match, Stewart. One. Basically, gifted run of this frame. He'd be really disappointed, Stewart. Yeah, I think Stewart's just got to forget this frame and get his focus on the next. So, forget about this frame. Nine. Fifteen. Yeah, we're so used to seeing Ronnie winning frames with one chance. He's had three or four chances in this frame. Once he starts knocking them in again, you'd think normal play would resume. Twenty-three. Thirty. Thirty-one. Thirty-five. Thirty-seven. Forty. It'd be interesting to see if Stewart stays in the arena after this frame. Because he's made careless mistakes, maybe just composed himself. As I say, you just forget about that one. Think about your 4-2 lead. Ronnie O'Sullivan is just two behind. Oh. It looks quite tight, but it must always hit the pink. You're sort of back on even terms before you recover. It's all got very, very interesting. Yes, it always is when Steve Davis is around. Stewart, a possible pot here. One. It's amazing the number of times off the break-off that Ronnie's left that red out. Played for the red that's above the black there, but always knew he had this to the middle. Five. In reserve. Right in front of the pink, so this is awkward. Now you just have to make sure you pot the red. Forget the position. Nice, the red below the pink pots to the right corner. Now you see it does go. What's that cue ball to get away from the cushion though? A little smile there from Stewart. He doesn't like this now. Don't blame him for that choice of shot. Keep your eye on the cue ball if he knocks this red in. Didn't really get near the pot. One. I think the black would still be available. If the black won't go, he'll play for the blue or pink here. Yep, he feels the black will. Nine. Pot. Sixteen. Yeah, Ronnie's just asking him again. It's got to be as close to that red as possible without touching it. Seventeen. That looks as if the red goes as well. You'd think just one of them would go when it's going back. It's got to get as close as possible without touching the red. Twenty-four. Twenty-five. Thirty-two. He's got enough angle to follow through off two cushions. Thirty-three. Hasn't quite got the cue ball out enough. Twenty-nine points in front. Key pot coming up to keep this break going. Well played. Forty-one. Forty-seven. That helps the situation. The pink going on to the blue spot. It's coming up a bit short here. Forty-eight. In between the green and brown with the right-hand side. Come off the side cushion here. Fifty-four. Fifty-five. Sixty-one. I think he's got the angle here to bring the reds into play. Oh, he's run right through the pack. Didn't have to hit them quite as hard as that. He wanted to make sure he opened the reds up. Sixty-eight. He got that much top spin. It just pushed right through them and he sacrificed putting a red safe. Sixty-eight. A good cue ball. Terrific effort there, but he'd love to have secured the frame at that visit. Great shot. You know, he made that look easy. He had to swerve that slightly. If this goes in, it's a chance. Well, Stewart's now lost a little bit of timing. Send the red into the blue, maybe. And messed the table up. But where's that red going? The left side of the table. It's going in the pocket. One. What a timely fluke that was. Billy O'Sullivan, one. He's going to slip around the back of it, is he? That's the frame. Secured out. And no matter how much talent you have, you can't beat a little bit of luck. O'Sullivan, one and the frame. And Ronnie certainly had it there. And he takes another frame. He now closes to just one behind. He's just not getting the break off as they are intending. It's pretty good because he can get the brown. He could even get on the red next to the black here. And he's played that perfectly. And it's an early chance for the rocket. Six. Yeah, the momentum in this match is changing. Switch from Stewart to Ronnie. Thirteen. That's the pot success rate for the last couple of frames. Fourteen. Ronnie's up to 90 and Stewart dropped down to 44%. Twenty-one. Yeah, well, that sixth frame for Stewart Bingham would be the one that he remembers for the wrong reasons at the end of this match. When he was dominating the match. Ronnie's going into the bunch off this next shot, as you can see. And if the pink goes, that's a bonus. Thirty-six. Thirty-seven. He's finished a bit straight on the black, but I think he got a kick there. Definitely sounded like a heavy contact. He played that well, but let's have a look if this jumped. Forty-four. It did. That's why he finished straight on the black. Forty-five. Fifty. Showing great character to come back into the match, but we maybe don't see him come back as much as other players, because he's very rarely behind in matches, Dennis. Normally he's dominating. Fifty-nine. Sixty-six. We're seeing, obviously, how quickly these frames can disappear. Not even five minutes old, and he's one putt away from winning it. That's, that's horrendous. Ronnie O'Sullivan, sixty-seven. Ronnie smiles, but that, what a, what a kick that was. I mean, even Stuart's reacting there. Just, you know, acknowledged to Ronnie there on the way around, as if to say, ooh, I mean, this is a bad one. Look at that. Stuart at the moment can tie, but he needs to take all blacks. He's overcut that. He's overcut it. Stuart Bingham, one. There's only fifty-nine possible points on the table. Eight. Stuart Bingham, eight. Eight. Nine. Foul. He'll be worried about the tip, he'll be having a quick look at the tip to make sure he didn't take a lump out of it, but that is the end of the frame. We'll show you, just playing a screw back, jump right over the top of it, but I think the tip's okay, but more importantly, Ronnie O'Sullivan is all square at four frames all. Let's see if Ronnie gets the break-off shot this time, but you always keep looking at it, but it's fine. Sometimes you can just take a little piece out of it. One. He can get himself onto the black here, and then onto the red next to it, and that will clear the black for both corner pockets. That's the last three frames, so Stuart's success rate's gone right down to fifty percent. Sixteen. Twenty-three. Twenty-four. Thirty-one. Not as easy as it looks, this one. It's never straightforward, that one. A bit of a test for Stuart Bingham. He's missed quite a few over the last couple of frames. This, to get a little bit of confidence going. And as Stephen Henry said, at the moment Stuart has gone, and where's the red going? Safe is the answer, but he has lost his timing somewhat now. You can see the cue in the backhand just going out to the right slightly. That's a sign of a bit of tension. And that looks pretty good. I'm just wondering if we can get to this red that he's looking at now. There's a big pocket. He wants to play that red there. Well spotted, Stephen, but can he see enough of that red? Because if he goes in off the other red, he'll clear the black. Oh, what a shot this would be. He was trying to cover that as well, but that was always on. He's not on this red, I don't think. Eight. Oh, he got a little double kiss there, and it still went in. Can he just drop the blue in and hold for a red to the left corner? You don't want to be having to play these with a lot of pace. What he had to do, he didn't feel that he could just hold the white, so it's end of break. Fourteen. Stuart Bingham, fourteen. There's a red coming up the table, but he's got a pretty good cue ball there. Wow. It's not an easy starter for Stuart. Just hampered slightly with that red. The other one that's on the pink spot is a bit easier to cue at. This is the better one for position, but it's a bit of a distraction, that red. Yeah, that'll make him feel a whole lot better. That was a good shot, putt and position. Oh, what a chance. Eight. Nine. Sixteen. Seventeen. Twenty-four. He'll be very disappointed if he doesn't win this frame from here. Twenty-five. It's just what he needed, wasn't it? A chance in amongst the balls. Thirty-two. Put his hand on the table. It's a chance he wasn't expecting, but on his mistake, let him in. Simple. Forty. Stuart now needs the red that's on the right cushion. Forty-four. Just left himself a bit more angle on this red than he wanted. Forty-five. If he can screw off the cushion and get somewhere near his hand, I've got another white there, that would be perfect, and then he can just drop it in. Fifty-two. Just this red needed. And he'll be feeling much better now. And every credit to Stuart Bingham here. He lost the last three frames, but Ronnie, a mistake with his attempted difficult putt gives Stuart this opportunity. It doesn't matter about missing the black. He'll be back fifty-three. Well, Ronnie's coming back to the table, but what's the difference? Oh, it's amazing. People actually thought he missed the putt there. He was playing the snooker. Back into the lead. He now just needs one more frame. I just detect there that Hazel wants another deciding frame. Big shot if he's playing for the black here. Oh, where's this red? Is it going to come up over the corner pocket? It is. It's on. He almost overcut that, isn't it? What a chance he had there, Stephen. Six. Huge margin of error to get past the pack. Big shot. Seven. He'll settle for that. Pink to the far corner. He's opened more reds up. He's finished low in the black more times in this match than I remember seeing Ronnie in a long time. It just hasn't been his A game to date. It doesn't matter what's happened so far. If he can win this frame, he'll still be favourite to go through to the final. Nine. Yeah, Ronnie is one of the players. He doesn't like to go straight into the pack early on. He likes to pick them off sometimes. Fourteen. Fifteen. I think I must have put Carson O'Meara and Denison in the best doable control. I've never seen them get out of position so much in a match. Just by the odd inch here and there, but it makes all the difference. Twenty-one. So he's picked off all the loose ones. Twenty-eight. The blue would be much better to go into this bunch of reds. Twenty-nine. Every chance, if he does open the bunch and pots the blue, he could take the frame. Oh, it's stuck on them. It's sort of stuck on the reds there. Thirty-four. Let's have a look. He couldn't wiggle its way out of the bunch there. This is awkward. Well, he missed one of these blues early on in the match. Almost identical to this. There's some pressure on this shot. Forty. Forty-one. Well, not right in the centre of the pocket there, but he's okay. Forty-eight. He may have to head up for the blue. I don't know if he can hold for the black or not. Had to go for the blue, but played nicely. Fifty-four. There's now one to the left of the pocket that's available. Sixty. Just this red needed. Sixty-one. How many times in the past, even, have we seen Ronnie do this? Put under extreme pressure. Seems to sometimes bring the best out of him. Sixty-seven. You don't get to be the best player in the world without being able to play a bit under pressure. That's what he's done in this frame. Seventy-five. Eighty-two. Eighty-three. We've had 87 centuries this year at the Barbican. Ninety. Ninety-two. Ninety-five. Ninety-nine. That's a magnificent step up. Not only the century, but brought the pink into play as well. Absolutely fantastic. And Ronnie gets the deciding frame underway. Oh, that was close. Confidently will Ronnie play this red to the right centre. Will he play the cue ball in and out of bulk? Or will he just put the cue ball a bit more to safety? There's the answer. Very positive football colour. And then played his last shot. An early prediction from Steve and Henry there. All great champions seem to be able to close matches out in style. Four. Eleven. Just got a little nudge on the blue. It's the wrong side now. He's played for the open red. He'll go into them this time. Eighteen. This is a key shot early on in this deciding frame. And it's slipped away up the table. And he's faced with a medium-length pot. That's a great recovery shot. Twenty-six. Top spin into the bunch here. He's OK. Oh, it might just be a little awkward. Because that pot, he's going to cannon into the two reds. He's just got to be a wee bit careful here. There's a bit of a stretch over the pink. That was always going to be difficult. But he's got an early advantage. Oh. Running off there. This is tough to get the thin contact. Hitting across the red. Foul. And a miss. Yeah, you called it, Stephen. And Ronnie's looking at the possible pot here. He's not guaranteed to get onto a colour. Well, this is a big shot, isn't it? What a shot he's taken on here. It says fortune favours the brave. He was brave there. And he got a lovely little nudge on the black. He deserved it. Because that was a tough shot he took on. He could quite easily have put Stuart back in. And how many players would have taken that on? I can't think of too many. He'll take great pleasure from this win today. It's been nowhere near his best. Four one down. Perhaps let off in the next frame by Stuart. But he's just battled away. He'll be thinking about that sixth frame tonight. When he looks back on this match. Seventeen. But he's kept his cool, Ronnie. Even at four one down. Twenty five. UK Championship. It's been seven years since Ronnie won the UK Championship. And he's going to give himself a chance in tomorrow's final to make it five UK titles. It's a great feeling, even for someone like Ronnie O'Sullivan. Although he's done it so many times. When you're walking around the table, you've clinched the match. You don't half feel good. I've enjoyed this match enormously. Fifty four. And there's the safety success rate. Eighty six percent. He's right up there. Sixty one. Can't finish with a century. But he's definitely closing the semi-final out in style. Sixty seven. Sixty nine. Not giving the referee much time to spot the balls. Seventy two. Stuart did remarkably well. After losing three frames to get himself five four in front. Eighty one. But it wasn't quite enough against this genius. Eighty seven. The crowd are enjoying this. And to the semi-final. Well, he was five four down. He made breaks of a hundred and seventeen. And then he cleared up for that ninety four. It's the people's champion that goes through to the final. And he defeats Stuart Fingham. Six frames to five.