World N°29 Ronnie O'Sullivan vs N°1 Neil Robertson | 2013 Champion of Champions SF Part 2

A clash of two titans of the snooker world. Current world champion Ponyo Sullivan trailing current world number one Neil Robertson by three frames to two. He thought he had some chance of covering it with a bought colour, probably brown. Yeah, very good putt though as well. Five. Good putt. Six. But not the desired cannon. I think the cannon was probably meant to be half ball on the red as opposed to... Neil Robertson, six. Going into the black itself. Nicely stroked in. Sullivan's long putting is a bit more suspect when he has to power the ball. Three. Four. Interesting choice of shot next. Possibly consider playing on the black. Easy. Going down on low on the cue ball there. So low for now. Now the pink is getting tied up by being re-spotted. He's the best at getting the balls how he wants them. See. Next move. Seventeen. Takes the breaking danger of drying up unless Ronnie finds a way. Finds it soon. Screw off the side of the pack with the rest. That would definitely develop balls. But the putt's got to be taken seriously and getting the cue ball out of there. That was the problem. Just seemed like things were getting more difficult by the shot. Ronnie Sullivan, 23. That's it. That's fine. Let's test Ronnie's cueing if he plays the straightest shot. In with power. Might go again on the pink into the same pocket. It's pretty decent, isn't it? Really punch it in and get too far across. Extra force might have meant that he lost his accuracy. Looking good now for a Sullivan in this frame. No need to worry about developing the black. Fourteen. No need to worry about the yellow. Fifteen. Thirty-eight points the advantage. Still 67 on. Twenty-two. Just about got there. Now, red-pink will be enough for Robertson to need a snooker. Twenty-nine. Thirty-four. Thirty-five. Neither player has been able to take a two-frame lead. Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty-eight. Forty-nine. Fifty-four. Ronnie and Sullivan, 54. And this is a gap here, would you believe? Very small one. They have been lucky. Yes, lucky not to leave anything clattering into that cluster. Well, maybe I should have said, didn't leave anything easy. One. Five. Six. Now, if he plays a blue, he might nudge them. Guarantee holding the cue ball. Left-handed shot, though, available to him. Twelve. Eighteen. Nineteen. Well, a little bit lucky to get a nice kiss off the black to get on the pink. Twenty-five. Twenty-six. Slightly overhead. Thirty-one. Sure. Thirty-two. Thirty-eight. Oh, just hit the first jaw. Neil Robertson, 38. Don't really get it, obviously. It didn't seem like it was all that far away in running. At that time, he had left an angle to pop the pink and develop the two reds underneath it. Played the slightly more difficult red there. One. Dangerous time for Neil Robertson. Frame that he should have won by now. But he's seen the ability that Ronnie has in clearing up to get the troublesome balls into play. Those two reds below the pink. Well within his grasp here. Nine. Cue ball's just drifted a little bit too far. He wanted to be much straighter. Play this one a bit more carefully. A lovely touch. Very nice. Sixteen. Seventeen. No, Ronnie has to leave it as late as possible to get the two reds going. It's all about the angle he gets on the next black. Might just need to nudge the right-hand red as opposed to going into the two of them. Twenty-five. Bringing the pink into play. Definitely opens the reds up. Pretty good. Don't worry that the other red has drifted close enough to the black. Thirty-one. Robertson broke down unexpectedly on thirty-eight. Thirty-two. Andrew Sullivan now a hot favourite for the frame. Thirty-eight. Thirty-nine. The last issue is getting onto the yellow but it's not perfectly played for once. I'm sure if he tried to come further down the table. So he had a straight shot on one of the bulk colours to get onto the yellow and make things easier. He wanted to be straighter on the brown. That's a good shot though. Drifting again fractionally further than he would like and he wants yellow and green. Forty-three. Forty-five. Well held for green. Once it's not been under complete control this break but either way he's got there. That's in as well. Play this one. These are the significant frames in the course of a match like this. He knows that. Fifty-seven. Robertson missed unexpectedly. Very close. So you see another very fine safety shot. He's not just getting the cue ball back down the other end. He's putting it on the very awkward side of the table. It's very congested on the left. So how on earth does Neil Robertson get up to bolt from here? The answer is he may not be able to. Tried to play the defensive safety which is good for one shot but he could be in more trouble after this. Do you think Neil that O'Sullivan has still got slightly more craft than Robertson? Well he's got more craft than most hasn't he I guess. And these two are both good safety players. Robertson's tactical safety play is right up there. But as you've said before this week Clive there isn't a lot about the game that Ronnie can't do. He's known for his break building and the youngster has been a brilliant potter of a long ball. Now he kind of started out. He tied Robertson up in knots there. Made that mistake take place. One. Seven. Eight. Fourteen. No player has opened up a two frame gap in this match. Is this where O'Sullivan does? 21. 22. There's plenty of reds and pinks up the grabs here. Take him about 40 or 50 in front. You say a two frame lead will feel a pretty significant move in this match I think. 28. I wonder if he played that. He did play. It was a tremendous cannon that the red full on. He's pushed up the table held for the pink. 35. 36. Then on the pink I had a quick glance to see if the black had become available. Not so. 42. 43. 49. Seven reds, seven pinks. Accumulating enough points here the way things are shaping up. Another lovely shot to play on the pink or indeed the black this time if he wants it. 57. Blue's not on its spot. That's his worry. Normally that would be his default would be up onto the blue. 58. Just thrown him slightly the fact that the blue's away from his spot. And with running side left hand side. They can see that he's right behind this next shot. Maybe he's just as good as over. 64. Been a very good break. Ronnie's had to think about a lot of it throughout. That man had plenty to think about Neil Robertson. He hasn't played badly but he's going to go a couple of frames down now. 72. A thinking break. An immaculate break. 79. 80. You mentioned craft Clive and of course a lot of that is about the way you play. And the safety and the other kind of skill that you need. But this is a lot of tremendous craft in this break. 95. 96. You feel it's been a very high standard match but this is the first century of it. Centuries but still it's nice to see one. And that one of 103 which Joe Sullivan taught was free to play with a 5-3 lead. Well it's a bit unlucky. I mean that left hand jaw is the only way he could stick it I think. 1. Never really knew whether we'd see him much more. 9. 15. When he gets his mind in gear and starts enjoying the game. 16. He always shows us just how good he is. Missed a couple. Two of the frames that have gone against him he could have won. Won very early in the match when he may have led 2-0. Another one after the interval. 22. Essentially the difference between the two players but also just the way that he's been outmaneuvered for the most part. 27. 28. Extra on that one to ensure being topside and it's absolutely perfect on that blue. Might consider just playing a little nudge into them. Yep. Gently. That way the cue ball isn't lost. And a classy little shot. 34. What a deadly combination Sullivan's produced in the last three and a half frames. Great safety. And just as I say that he's made a positional error. Well that's gone in. There whether it be cutting a vault colour or landing in behind one. He gets a little advantage back if he gets his shot right. Left that red on I think. So whether it was exactly how he played it I don't know. Well I was assuming that the red behind the black wouldn't go. I'm very interested to see how Robertson is now in amongst them. Because he has been frozen out for a long time. So really test his mettle. 6. 7. That's a very slight angle on this. Hit it quite hard to get up for the next red. That's okay. 14. A couple of minutes ago it looked as if Sullivan had played a great escape. But it turned out it was to the wrong red. 22. 23. 30. Robertson looking at the red to the left. Not for this time because it's the other red he's playing. But wondering whether the one below the pink will then pop to a corner pocket or not. So he's thinking three shots ahead here. 30. 37. 38. As you know Neil Robertson has a left-hander. He'll have a bit of difficulty with this shot down the cushion. Ronnie hopes that that will be where the break ends. Yeah tricky little angle this. He's not dead straight. He's slightly the wrong side of straight. This is not easy. Coming around two cushions. Cube wall is well out into the middle of the table. All credit to Neil Robertson. The chance finally came. Yellow and green needed. 55. That was a slight kick. Would have been very cruel if he hadn't have done. Because this has been a very good break. Matty's very much alive. O'Sullivan has outplayed him for three and a half frames. But when Robertson did finally get a chance. 73. He's taken it. He's cleared up with 80. He's still in the match. Albeit one down with two to play. O'Sullivan leading 5-4. Set him back a little bit O'Sullivan hasn't it? Because he was there on the brink. When we played that loose shot which sent the cue ball in off. Robertson's not the world number one for no reason. And he was pretty steely at the end of that previous frame. Not interested in the very dodgy red to left middle. Plays this shot. It's such an awkward shot. There's the red. Played safe from there. That's probably more like it. Worrying about leaving a red on. And he's quickly gone round to see what's on to the left middle. There may be something. Oh there is a cut but the cue ball is tight on the rail. A big shot. Very big. Very good. Yes on the blue. Six. Seven. Fourteen. Fifteen. Twenty. Twenty-one. Twenty-six. Twenty-seven. Thirty-four. Pin drop silence in this capacity crowd. Forty. Forty-one. Forty-six. Forty-seven. The blue is easier to get onto a red from. Pop is more difficult than the brown in other ways. Fifty-two. Fifty-three. This is cool stuff from Robertson. Well that looks good. Very good. Subtle nudge into the red. It's nothing too dramatic. Sixty-one. How well Robertson has responded when he wasn't far from being out of it in the last frame. Been outplayed for three and a half frames. Miss Sullivan made an unexpected mistake. Sixty-seven. Sixty-eight. Robertson cleared the table with 80. Now this contribution is going to take the match the full distance. Seventy-five. Into a deciding 11th frame. Seventy-six. Lose two pinks and four blacks. There's another pink ball coming up. That means all Robertson's matches have gone to a decider. Now he beat Martin Gould. Four three. Then he beat Ali Carter. Six frames to five. Are there any questions to be answered? Whether Robertson can complete his 50th century of the season? Well if the red passes the yellow then there's every chance. Ninety-four. Ninety-six. Ninety-eight. Brad Tramp sent the record last season with 61. One hundred and seven. One hundred and twelve. One hundred and eighteen. Five three down has made rates of 80 and 125 to level the match at five all. Thank you. The final frame. The decider. Whoever wins it will play Stuart Bingham in tomorrow's final. I'll tell you straight away. Ronnie looks disappointed. There could be a plant there. He looks at it. It's not quite lined up but from the direction the cue ball is coming that can be made into a plant. Two reds are virtually touching I think. There's not much distance so he hits the top red thick. Thicker than the potting angle and that will be a plant. I think it's too good to refuse. He's got to get it if he plays it. Well he sides against it. Ronnie thought it was on. When Ronnie had played his break off shot he looked really disappointed to see those two balls lined up. Well there's a lot of tension around in the Rico Arena in Coventry. The match has been of a high quality. Everybody's transfixed. Now I think there could be a red up into the top right. If he plays it it'll be on the black. If it's straight enough that is. This could be nothing. Worth the risk. I'm not sure what he's looking at. Again are we talking a plant? There's two reds which are almost set on. Again probably this one to the bottom jaw. It's time I think he's going to play it. Yeah done with doing it. Trying to get as much top spin as he could muster on that. He might get through them. Look how these reds are spread. If the chance come it would be a golden opportunity to win the match for either player. Well what a shot for now. That's big problems for Neil Robertson because as I say there is no pack to just play off one cushion into. I think he thought that maybe it rolled off and he poked Caleb in the eye with his cue there. Well there was the proverbial ball short. Something happened didn't it? He didn't like. What a chance for O'Sullivan. Surprised he finished short on the shot. I can't imagine what excuse there could have been for that. I think the red that's up near the black spot is not actually getting in the way if the black is potted. So it might play a part in a few shots. In any deciding frame any top player would ask for only one thing. One decent chance. And this is it. Really is. Will he take an interest in playing around the black spot? I know he could probably get up for the blue a number of times and accumulate points that way. But it's not really his style and as he has to he can maybe this time see how things develop from here. It wasn't one of his better shots though. Lost an angle. Yeah two choices there. If he goes through the gap that he's on the red down the cushion. Or as you saw a little kiss on the brown's giving him something. But this is not easy to judge. Oh and he just, a near draw. It's going to be accepted. Three hours of spellbinding entertainment. What a good shot that was. Played with stun. It wasn't a natural. He's not keen on the angle he's got on the red though. So he plays the one above it. 23. Same problem though. That's a nice angle. It means that the puck isn't got to be forced. And also that cue ball does come out. Out of bulk and perhaps onto a bulk colour or even higher up the table for the blue. Great camera shot isn't it? 29. Position on the table we very rarely see. That could just about be the shot. Once again it's almost the same angle as that he refused this red. The one to the middle instead. 34. This time nicely on the blue. Six reds above the one near the black spot are slightly in each other's way. But a couple certainly will go to the right corner here. This time crucially you can play on the black. 39. Just slightly pacey that one. While he should get this black he's got to give it all his care and attention. Well time running out for Robertson. Should he ever get back to the table which seems unlikely the way the balls are. 48. He's a good pressure player but Ronnie has pulled out more here. Pegged back. 55. Great stuff from both. Over the line O'Sullivan played three errorless frames. Tactically and potting in taking a 5-3 lead. He also led 34-0 in the next frame. He was heading for a 6-3 win. Robertson won that frame with 80. Another with a total clearance of 125. But it's O'Sullivan who's got in in the decider. He's going to clinch it with an immaculate century. Yeah and a lovely match to watch. 94. Robertson's played a big part in it. It's the standard of play. It's not all been breaks. 97. Both players have made centuries. We're going to see the third of the match here. But it's been just a joy this match. 106. O'Sullivan's 6-5 win over Ding Zhunwei last night was wonderful entertainment. 112. His 6-5 win over Neil Robertson tonight has been right up with it.