Ronnie and Reanne Aiming to Tie | O'Sullivan‒Evans vs Selby‒Kenna | 2022 World Mixed Doubles

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Rianne Evans, they need to win at least two frames if they are to play Mark Selby and Rebecca Kenner in the final. Neil Robertson and Mick Nutsher are, I'm sure, watching backstage, cheering on Selby and Kenner. That was interesting, just there you saw Mark have a chat with Rebecca, as if to say, well, you're going next. So after the break-off has been completed, you're the team that can dictate the order, which may or may not be significant. And that's a terrific rep from Rebecca Kenner. An excellent shot. The final point on the order is that Rebecca Kenner, I can't think of anything worse than a doubles match than having a Ronnie O'Sullivan waiting in the wings to play the shot after you. Because there's never been a score like it in snooker history. Well, that's two good starts. She played her part in their victories. By playing a fairly defensive role, she's gone out on the attack even more so here. People just running into a safe spot. O'Sullivan and Evans made a slow start losing their first match. Rebecca Kenner, seven. And they will be aware of what they need to do here. Two frames, remember, at least two frames required. Because the fact that team Selby, Kenner are in the final, it's all right, they haven't got any interest here. But perhaps they'd prefer to play Robertson and Mink. Because if they were to lose this match, I'm not saying either side would be easy to beat. They'd be playing the same team again tonight. So that wouldn't be in their interest. Seven. Fourteen. Nineteen. There is potentially a plant, those two reds. Which take him up the table for a lower value colour, of course. Black completely locked out. Twenty. Not a particularly good angle from blue to what will be whatever his next red is. Kind of a shot that top players will practice a lot. He's played it pretty well, hasn't he? In fact, very well. Twenty-six. He doesn't get enough credit, does he, for his scoring? But he's had over 700 centuries. He's sixth on the all-time list. He's the consummate match player, isn't he? That's what his game is based upon. His safety is good. His knowledge and tactics are first class. Thirty-two. Thirty-seven. Mark Selby. Thirty-seven. Mark Selby has tried to do just a little bit too much pace on it. But you could see what he was intending. I just wonder whether Waddy O'Sullivan has got some licence to be a little bit more attacking. The way that the order is in this frame. Or is he trying to get his opponent or his partner in? Rian Evans, who is also a very heavy scorer. The right-hand red can be in play on this shot. Rebecca has successfully avoided that. Fortunately, she's left another red on. Rian Evans with the extra pressure of knowing that the four-times world champion will be playing the shot after this one. Something will just break ends. Rian Evans, 12 times the women's world champion. Next best on that list, Alison Fisher, who won it seven times. Six. Not just because of those big numbers that they both achieved. Those two, in my opinion, are the best we've ever seen. Seven. A nice shot. Not sure how much angle Rian has got on this blue. Twelve. And she's inspired plenty of them, I'm sure, to take up snooker. Nineteen. Twenty. Things getting more difficult after this next colour is potted. Not only where the reds are, but with the black not on its spot, that's also going to make things tough to continue the break much further. Michael Sullivan playing with her opposite hand and doing it very well. But I'm not sure where the next red's coming from now. Twenty-six. Rian Evans. Twenty-six. One. Well, he played it quite gently. I'm quite surprised he finished short on the pink. Certainly this was a better option, but it's quite about the black being in the way now. Maybe a situation here where he just pots the red and passed it. Seven. Yeah, and I think, knowing Selby, he'll be putting a colour safe here. And that's how he won four world titles, by playing a very astute tactical game. That's a good shot. He's hard-left playing. I could see what he was going to do when he was straight on the red. Five. Going to miss. Selby-Kenner. Four. But the frame is still alive. One. Yellow's no good here because he's 29 behind, so it'll have to be blue. Six. It's quite a tense moment. It's only the first frame, but as we know, Timo Sullivan-Evans have to win two of these four frames to be in the final. And to steal this frame would be a huge boost. Well, I wonder if there was a kick there. We don't have so many these days, but she leapt up in the air straight away as if something was wrong. As soon as she hit this round, she was aware that it was not on line for the pocket. So Mark Selby has the brown over the pocket to win the first frame. Four. He wouldn't usually see a player do that, roll the ball over the pocket with one snooker, but he's almost inviting Leon Sullivan to pop this because the snooker behind the black is not going to happen where the black is. And he takes the invitation, but he tried to move the black. So this is now a mountain to climb, getting a snooker where the balls are. I think it's impossible, but it's very unlikely. Bronio Sullivan. Trying to bring the black into play, but he's not made it any better. And the pink is going in. Six and a frame for Selby-Kenner. So, Bronio Sullivan and Rhian Evans need two frames from this match. There's only three left now. Pressure mounting on them. It's Mark Selby and Rebecca Kenner leading 1-0. Selby and Kenner this evening. 1-0 to Selby and Kenner. Who's going to get up and play the next shot if it's Rhian? It means that they have decided to change the sequence, the order from the previous frame of who follows who. One. You can see Selby applauding that. That was as good as anyone could possible, I think. But what does it lead to? That's the question. The black is completely glued. It's not in play. Four. Five. Very good at playing left-handed. Right-handed player, normally, like Sullivan, she does it without anyone really noticing at times. 11. 12. This time, didn't quite get enough on that. For your partner here, you make it very difficult. Rebecca Kenner going next to try and get your partner... Rhian Evans, 15. ..into a scoring opportunity. APPLAUSE And that is what a double is. It's all about being a team. Yeah, they're a very good team, aren't they, as well, Sullivan Evans, in terms of the interaction between them? That's a pretty good shot. That is red on the left cushion. It may not be potable. Wow. I can't believe the red didn't drop. Like it was about to just topple in. Has he got any sort of a shot here, perhaps, to play off the side of the bunch onto the black to pop the red? And he's flying against it. But that is an unusual state of the table, isn't it, with the black and the red like that? Something's going to have to give in that little corner. Put it this way, Dave, I wouldn't like that red to be the last red left on the table. Not sure what would happen then. I think we'd have to all go home. Well, the British Open will be delayed, which starts tomorrow, I think. It's not a situation that would come up very often in a game of snooker. This sort of a plan? One. There's some sort of chance now for O'Sullivan to get scoring. As I said, he had the century last night, played much better in his second match than the first when his highest break was only 23. There's never been a better player when the balls are not in prime positions than O'Sullivan at getting them in good positions. He seems to single out the key red or the key pot, which opens things up. The little flick on the red was not part of the plan. Ronnie O'Sullivan, four. If Ronnie O'Sullivan played, would it be the same the other way round? One. Brian Evans, one. But that could be a big error. O'Sullivan coming back to the table. One. I just wonder if Ronnie will try and pop the blue and get into the pink and black here to try and free those. It's kind of a natural shot to be playing. He doesn't have to, especially with awkward keying, but he may consider it. That's good. That's worked out well. Especially now that pink appears to pop to the left corner. Six. Seven. 10. 14. 21. 22. It's looking like one each, which means, of course, Robertson and Mink would need Selby and Kennard to win the last two frames. The other thing about this event, you mentioned it's always going to be fun. 27. I thought maybe it would be light-hearted. It's not. One or two people did say, well, I wonder whether O'Sullivan will treat it like any other big match of his own. Well, I think the answer is what you're seeing here. He's fully committed to it. Why shouldn't he be? He sometimes does some other strange things, but in this case, he's completely on it. 34. This red to level the match. So, two frames left to play. O'Sullivan and Evans need to win one of them, and they will have a rerun of this match tonight, the final, best of seven it will be, to decide our champions. 43. 50. 51. Ooh, he's angled himself. 58. Doesn't matter. 78 in front. Surely not. He's replacing the final. They need to win one of the next two. We're all square at one each. It doesn't leave O'Sullivan many options that are any good to him. That was a very difficult shot to even get a safety shot from there. I think he wanted to break up those two balls close to the left corner. One. I think the pink will pop up into the top left pocket, as we call it, the yellow pocket. Albeit not easy. Nicely done. Ooh, he's looked here, I thought. Seven. That's a nice shot. Eight. No great angle on the blue, but not being rushed into any shots here. I think Rebecca was looking to screw back a little further to the right. 13. He's kind of taken it into those reds on the right side, those four reds. So, even if she does pop this red, getting onto a colour, well, it's far from guaranteed. Makes you wonder, is it worth playing the pot with? Rebecca Kenner, 13. She leaves the table having played a good safety shot. Still discussions ongoing. Beautiful shot, although there is a red out. I don't think he could have done a lot more with the cue ball than that, but will O'Sullivan be tempted by the long red, which is not easy? Again, no obvious colour to follow. The art of putting distance between cue ball and object ball there by Selby. Time like this, almost a minute and a half looking. I think there was an element of steering the cue ball around the angles, but obviously the pop was fully intended as well. Just about six minutes since the last ball was potted. Yeah, that is the problem on that shot. If you think it's likely to be a double kiss, invariably it will be. I think she was concerned by it. You look at that and you think, how can those two balls collide again? But certain shots lined up, it's hard to avoid them. One. Pop the red and the pink to the left corner. With, of course, Robertson and Mink. Seven. Watching with increasing nerves. At the start of the day, they looked the least likely pairing to be in the final, didn't they? Thirteen. Well, absolutely. Neal and Mink. Fourteen. But today, they were brilliant. They both played a big part. They had to win 4-0, I think. It must be said, pre-tournament, Selby and Kenner were the outsiders of the four. Twenty-one. Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight. Very well controlled little shot there. Thirty-five. Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty-seven. I'm not sure what he played there, actually. He finished in a position which seemed unlikely. But he's on the red, anyway. Forty-eight. Well, what it means is he needs the blue and another red. So, Neal Robertson and Mink are still with a chance to get into the final. It depends on the last frame now. These two, O'Sullivan and Evans, are going to have to win it. Otherwise, the pre-tournament favourites will not be in the final. Well, it's been a superb break because it's not always been very straightforward. That's never been in play. Sixty-one. Very good. The frame is beyond all doubt now. So, one big last frame in the afternoon coming up to decide who will play. Mark Selby and Rebecca Kenner in the final tonight. Ronnie O'Sullivan and Rhea Evans will have to win it. Otherwise, they're going to miss out. It's a little bit heavy in pace. It's worth, perhaps, taking the risk. So, fast blood. Team Selby, Kenner and four times world champion with a good chance to get into a strong positional. Ah, but it's just lost the cue ball. Six. Mark Selby, six. Well, Selby, Kenner, four. They're lucky to go in off, I suppose. I think O'Sullivan must be forced into going for one here. If any reds are available, that is. The red near the pocket is covering a number of them. I think the one above the black might pot. I think on that last shot Rebecca played, the red that was nearest the left corner actually played a big part in that. One. Second time, Mark Selby in. First time he made just six. Three. Four. A couple of reds directly above the black will both pot to the left corner. Twelve. Ninety. Twenty. Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight. That is OK. Just trawled through the gap. He's on the red in the middle. Thirty-six. Forty-two. Forty-three. Fifty. You're playing as a team when you're looking at the best ways of winning and the combination of Selby and Kenner has been a good one. There's been no-one looking to take the glory. It's a question of just doing the right thing at the right time to get the wins. And they've done that. Fifty-seven. Problem they got there. They're going to have to beat Selby and Kenner who are playing some good stuff and this has been another excellent break for Mark Selby. Sixty-four. Over the two days, I think, they were playing in the final. It was going to be tough. Sixty-five. Playing a team with 19 world titles between them was enough reason to try and play somebody else, I guess. Seventy-one. Seventy-seven. Seventy-eight. Mark Selby, seventy-eight. Seventy-five from Mark Selby. Ronnie O'Sullivan and Rianne Emmons, their three tournament favourites, will not be in the final. Selby and Kenner against Neil Robertson and Mink Mutcharath. That is our final here at the World Mixed Doubles tonight. World Mixed Doubles