Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Zhang Anda | 2023 English Open R4

It's Zhang Ander against Ronnie O'Sullivan for a place in the quarterfinals of the Betvictor English Open. O'Sullivan has won their previous three meetings, most recently the February European Masters last year. The closest match they've had went to a deciding frame. Zhang recovering from 4-2 to 5-4. So Ronnie won't be taking anything for granted this evening. It's still only a best of seven frame match. So it's got to be on your your toes and judge sort of struggled to get home but in the end he did earlier on. In his first match he didn't look very comfortable out there with his elbow. He played superbly yesterday and not quite to that level today has to be said. But he ended up winning against a very promising player. Nice shot to start. As I said earlier, a lot of the opposition from the lower reaches of the rankings, young or old, a little bit intimidated by O'Sullivan. I don't think Zhang Ander fits that bill. Really poor shot actually that last one. So much room on the right side. In Shanghai it was O'Sullivan. British Open last week in Cheltenham, Williams. If it was to be Higgins this week in the class of 92. He hasn't won yet but he's playing as well as anybody, Higgins. Good start. He's on reds and blacks. 48. But playing O'Sullivan I don't think he was worried about possibility of 1-4-7 breaks especially this early in the piece. Zhang Ander, 48. Well that never threatened the pocket. There was no, that wasn't even close enough for it to stay over the hole which was what usually would happen if you missed those. I don't know if there's two reds to the left middle that are close to a plant. I looked at Jason and I know that Zhang Ander hadn't really given them a second thought. If they're on, it's a bad misjudgment by him. To play a containing safety shot and not have the first clue there was a plant dead set. So that is a very poor thing to do. It's something your coach would tell you off for I think. Anyone can miss a ball. No one can be criticized for that but poor observation of what there is. The shot you're leaving is your own fault. It cost him on this occasion. O'Sullivan didn't get past the quarterfinals of a ranking event last season. It's good cueing from O'Sullivan. That was a better shot than it looked you know. Very cleanly potted. Giving himself a chance to get back into this frame. Nearly slender looking now isn't it? Doesn't mean a great deal in the grand scheme of this frame where the balls are. It's great when the audience comes in to watch these great players live. It's a very different experience. Just the chance to see someone like O'Sullivan close up. You can see all of it. The way that he operates, the cue action, the stance, just the way he's around the table. He's probably will revolve around that top left hand red. Question of how he tackles this because the red actually is maybe a little further away from the cushion than what he would like because he could carry it more comfortably if he's closer to the cushion. What is the plan here? Screw the cue ball to the left cushion and play on it in the middle. That's got to be with precision. It's played to the cushion. He's got a shot down the bottom pocket and this would probably win in the frame if this goes in. I think this is the way he approached all that. Made it all look simple. 55. Doing it again here. Zhang had the chance. Missed the red. O'Sullivan has taken these very well. The initial red wasn't easy into the right center pocket. 58. He was in prime position. 62. The frame has won. It can appear to be not wrong with his game, does there? He's not played a lot of snooker this season of course. He missed the first three ranking events. 73. Ronnie O'Sullivan. 80. That was very impressive from Ronnie O'Sullivan. An early blow for Zhang O'Sullivan. 1-0. Well that is a very good pot. Not easy. 6. 13. For a man who's 1-0 down, he's actually hitting the ball well, Zhang Ander. 21. 28. 29. 34. 35. 42. I think he started that last frame really well. Then he started looking at a lot of shots. End up missing that red by a more rhythm. He seems to be a better player. He starts looking at all the things that can go wrong and invariably when you do that they will. 49. This has been a really good response. 50. The initial red was certainly missable into the center pocket. Once again he's not sure what to play whether he goes into the reds or not. He didn't have any choice really and he played a delightful shot and there was not one person in the crowd clapped him. Nothing personal. It's just their massive O'Sullivan fans. That was a lovely shot he played. Well that is a very good pot. 65. 66. Yeah a little smattering there. Been a lovely break like I say and it's one in the frame this time. 80. Well that red will only go with a lot of side I think. Even then it may not be able to. Zhang Ander 80 and the frame. A nice break there to win the frame. Really good stuff from Zhang Ander. Matching Ronnie O'Sullivan's break in the opening frame and it's one frame apiece. Winner to play the Ali Carter of Zhou Yulong who might be going onto the table pretty late this evening. They're on table four. It was a good safety from O'Sullivan and it's created the error. Continue the break. There was a bit of distance between those reds so he had to hit it bang on which he did. Zhang Ander may have thought that he got away with that one but no dice. Five. Six. Eight. Nine. Well it's always going to be a bit of a puzzle with the black completely. Fourteen. Locked out of the frame as it appears to be. Well it is. It doesn't appear to be. Fifteen. He could possibly develop it but he was probably happy to just chip away at what's there. He'd be taking a risk trying to get high value colors into play when you've got three or four more reds and high value colors in the locker. Twenty-one. No that wasn't planned. Tried to screw back past that. Twenty-six. But it's increasingly difficult with your limitations of certain colors being out of the game. The pink's not really in play either is it as you can see. Now he is hamstrung by all of that. Twenty-seven. Probably end of break. Therein lies the problem. The great this break a little time can't operate with certain balls out of play. Twenty-seven. Rather ugly looking table at the moment with both pink and black awkward. When he first turned professional age 16 his long game was incredible actually. That was his asset then. The amount of times he would pop blues from the spot into the bolt pockets to recover a break. Six. The rest of it didn't come immediately the cue ball control. Every time he knocks in one of those it just takes me back to when he first appeared. Sixteen-year-old beating almost everybody in qualifiers. Norton's shot there playing with the opposite hand. Given that he's already 38 adrift and very difficult to launch an effective counter-attack given the way things stand. Seven. Just caught that red too thick which is why it stayed on the lip of the pocket. Well that could be a moment couldn't it because now Zhang Ander who is playing well he's uh he's in with something to go at. If this comeback is going to be complete then he's going to get the frame one. There's a lot of work to be done with the two reds to the right of the black which seemed not to be a plant to that pocket. You could move something here. Fifteen. There's no color available. They're not dead in line for a plant. Seeing it from there though they might be makeable into a plant. First thing you look at is the gap between the reds about a couple of two or three centimeters. Maybe he could just turn it into a set to that right corner. Twenty-two. Twenty-eight. Zhang Ander. Twenty-eight. Yeah it was an interesting one wasn't it because as you saw they weren't set as a plant but he felt that he could turn it into one and he probably could have done with hitting a lot less of the first red on that right side from his angle. Then it could have been gettable. Talked to Alan McManus earlier in the week about possibly replacing his tip in the very near future O'Sullivan. Been working pretty well for him so far this week. He hasn't always played at his best but he's looked sharp. He's certainly looked very focused. Another bit of sweet cueing as he edges his way towards the winning line. It's been a bit of a this frame given the position of the balls. You need the red and another color to go two one up. Eight. And the red will not be easy. O'Sullivan. Eight. Not to be. You can never be sure you're not going to hit the red incorrectly and leave something on. A little bit in the balance these shots but I think what happened there was the middle pocket was in the way of the natural angle so he screwed it to widen the angle. Now the blue's gone safe so that's again in O'Sullivan's favor. Seems like he can't look. Doesn't want to see what's happening. Looks as though O'Sullivan can get through to this green. It's felt as though he's been a very heavy favorite throughout this frame. He's been in front throughout. He's had to get the points on the board in dribs and drabs. 16 the difference so as things stand O'Sullivan needs. Yeah he's playing some really good shots Jang-Ander like that previous which is certainly just making O'Sullivan a bit frustrated I think. Doing nothing wrong. He's playing good match play. Very well cued. He's got a good temperament. That's another flagger. He's nine in it now so O'Sullivan just wants one pot from here. Jang-Ander needs them all but he's played a really tough old frame. Nine the lead. Beautifully struck. Another excellent long pot which really has been the theme of the week from him. Why wouldn't he just go for that pink there? I mean I just don't really understand it. Six in the frame. No missing this time. Ronnie O'Sullivan pots the pink and clinches the frame. A hard-earned frame. Ronnie O'Sullivan a 138th. Two one up halfway there. Had to really grind it out in the previous frame. Can you stand still please? I'm happy O'Sullivan with some movement. It's more the stewarding perhaps he's not happy with. People are always going to wander in and out the snooker venue if they're allowed to do so. Ronnie O'Sullivan. Concentration is not there. People have to go out for a refreshment or for a bathroom break and come back. They don't want to miss a frame of it. It can be a little off-putting. Tough balance because we're celebrating what tremendous crowds we've got this week. Clearly still irked by the background movement by O'Sullivan. Seem to be acting his level of play. Albeit he did miss that red just now. He's not amused. Like I say is he annoyed with the spectators or is it that he feels that someone should be stopping them or sort of managing the coming in and out. You know that's that's my point. I don't know which one it is. I think the spectators were just desperate to see the game. I don't know. But it's rattled him now I think. I like a sponsored walk says O'Sullivan. Well at least he can smile about it. Certainly Ben Williams is. Well I'll tell you he does sometimes sound a bit like Ray Reardon. He's he's great mentor. One of the great men of snooker who equally would not have stood for things like this that put him off. Ray was a great man of snooker but he used to fight his corner against if he thought a referee had made a mistake or something in the crowd had upset him. He wasn't afraid to make his feelings known. And there's still a match to be won here. Zhang Ander has played well enough to suggest that he can still be a threat. Six. Seven. Fourteen. Fifteen. He's played well tonight hasn't he Zhang. He's two one down but quite dissimilar to the match with CJ Wee that Ronnie won. Played especially well in beating Anthony McGill. He breaks 127 73 and 91 to clinch a 4-1 victory. I mean it's a good result wasn't it McGill. 31. 38. 39. 46. 47. 54. 55. 61. 62. 67. 68. He made three frame winning breaks and 4-1 win over Slessor who's twice beaten Ronnie O'Sullivan. So he is playing some terrific stuff right now. He seems to be enjoying the challenge of playing the seven times champion O'Sullivan. Well he's shown some frustration about movement in the crowd. He must be a little concerned about how well his opponent's playing. It is a combination of the two things really. He's frustrated when he's at the table because his movement well he says that anyway. I'm sure he's right but he's not dealing with it very well to be honest. So it goes into the mix and game is going to be a tough one for Sullivan to win. You now go on to complete ninth century this season already. He made nine in the hole of last. 90. 97. Once again 97 will be more than enough. O'Sullivan's pod success was 100% getting about halfway through frame two but he's dipped quite a lot since then. 87 as you saw. Chang's on the other hand outstanding at 94. The body language is not great for O'Sullivan. I'm sure he can regroup but if Chang gets in again it'll just add to the frustration. He's three out of three with his long range pot so far. One. Has two round of 32 appearances last season for Chang. Six. Seven. Started this one a lot more encouraging. I've got to play a screw shot here to get himself out to a colour. Firstly straight. This is an awkward one. I'm not sure if this is his sort of shot though to drop in blue like this. I don't know what he's landed on there. Yeah that red doesn't quite go. There is a gap but it doesn't lead directly to the pocket. One. Hang under. 18. He missed it by a margin and his fluke one. Goodness me. Wow. How important is that going to be? It's an outrageous fluke. Frustration is there. I think the other thing I was thinking he's had very little table time actually in the last 20 minutes or so. It's been all Chang. A lot of sitting down. Now he's had an outrageous fluke but now he I suppose is just going to take it and speed the match up. Even that secondary kiss worked out quite nicely didn't it? I'll tell you what I think he'll be having a go at something here. Something seems to have changed in his mind. Wow. Money or something. Seven. Five. Second hander. He doesn't bode well does he? He's not happy. He's not a happy man at the moment. I mean this match is two all so he's got some breathing space but he has to gather his thoughts. If he's here to win which I'm sure he is. But Chang has now made a couple of errors. I expected him to pot that one. He's over cut it. The composure he's been showing so far this week in Brentwood has certainly deserted him for the time being. Look at the table now. Two. A two at once. How do you get to pot one colour though after it? Seven. Is that how he viewed it? Eight. It really was as I recall. Sullivan has completely lost his way and his concentration it seems. But it's vital for Chang to take advantage of that. He's missed his ball this frame which Sullivan couldn't capitalize on. Fourteen. It'd be a big thing for him to win not from three against the rocket in the past. That is a sort of a barrier he's got to overcome as well. Thirty-five the lead. Twenty. Twenty-five. Twenty-six. It's blue another red and another colour of highish value should be enough. Thirty-one. What's the other thing to say about Chang is that he's a little rattled for whatever reason and it's not his problem is it. He's just got to do his thing and uh and that's what he's doing. He's remaining in his own little bubble here and he has played really well tonight. I mean three-two is not a win because he's never beaten O'Sullivan so he's still got to deliver the killer blow in this match. Thirty-eight. Is he going to be able That's the question. Forty-three. Forty-four. Fifty. Once again he's shown admirable composure. Managed to block out the noise. Distractions. The fact that his opponent is clearly rattled at the moment. Zhang Ander thoroughly deserves to be within a frame of what would be a huge victory for him. The composure that has got him to the round of 16. Certainly seem to have lost it for a frame and a half there. The question is whether he can now put that behind him and just focus on these last two frames because Zhang Ander is playing extremely well. I'll get the chance the way Ander's potting. Because the red and the black are close together. I'm sure Ben Williams will be onto this one. There's Ben hovering. Just about black first. Not in that. We're just going to see which way Ronnie goes with this. With a few indiscriminate shots towards the end of the last frame. That's another one. One. Out. Zhang Ander one. Ronnie O'Sullivan. Well now. He didn't quite catch the pack fully. Although you might argue he's a bit unlucky to have gone in off. Not happening. It isn't happening. He missed that one by quite a way. Score line of two-one. To O'Sullivan. A rueful smile. One. It's out of O'Sullivan's hands and completely. Four. In the grip of Zhang Ander who's just got to convert this. Good chance to a match winning one against an opponent he's never beaten. Twelve. Thirteen. Twenty. So he's already 24 in front. The red's spreading nicely. Black available. Twenty-one. Twenty-seven. This is a test of nerve as much as anything now for Zhang Ander. This would be a big deal for him. Thirty-five. Yes the reds are scattered. It's almost been every frame. He's managed to get the balls into the kind of positions which makes it just about putting balls and getting on the next one. There's no disturbing of the bunch. Forty-nine. Played it pretty well and now well it's just one more putt. The local favorite has been well beaten in the end. What a cool and composed performance this has been all the way through. He's taken out frames at one visit. He's looked thoroughly unruffled. Ronnie O'Sullivan has just bitten his cue tip off. Seventy-three. He had made noises about replacing it in the near future anyway but tonight is Zhang Ander's night. What a performance. Eighty. O'Sullivan rearranging his equipment. Eighty-one. Even though it's now nearly 10 past 11 local time but O'Sullivan's now former tip. He's matching his best ranking performance. He's played better than this beautifully and he's very well deserved this. Just to say one thing Ronnie O'Sullivan is due to play in Wuhan. Was missing from Zhang's performance. He's come close to a century a couple of times now. He's made one. 105. And having just taken out the seven times world champion that he can go further. He plays like this. He certainly can. 110. Appreciating the skill that Zhang Ander is showing here. This has been some display. Ronnie O'Sullivan. A big upset on the fourth evening here in Brentwood. The seven times world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is out at the hands of Zhang Ander who's played quite brilliantly. The world number 57 has scored heavily and kept his nerve when it mattered to deliver a fantastic performance and victory for two.