We all lose terribly sometimes | Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Graeme Dott | 2018 Welsh Open L64

Some good safety going on already between these two. And that's another one. Well, he's misjudged it, but it's not too bad. That's better. Caught it much too thick. Needs a bit of luck. And he got some. Playing the same shot Graham Dot did. The jaws of the green pocket is a good shot to play. I only thought of something different, but if he gets the cannon... Wow. That was close. But a good safety. Neil Falls was right to make the point about the fact that Dot beat O'Sullivan on the way to winning the world title. Well, looking at the possible plant. And it is on. I don't quite know where the cue ball's going, but... Concentrate on the plant. Yeah, good shot. And that couldn't have worked out any better. Two really good kisses there. Eight. Well, he forced the angle there to play the cannon into the reds. And it couldn't have worked out any better. 15. What an attacking shot. Could have played for the red into the left centre. Six. 22. He's won four ranking titles. Never done that before in a single season. 23. Well, the cannon didn't work out as planned. Oh, he's missed it. It's our chance for Graham Dot. Disappointed with that. Eight. The psychology of snooker is so involved and so complex. It really is. Because it's a relatively slow-moving sport. And so much can happen to change the momentum in a match. O'Sullivan's gone back to his seat. And he's preparing himself in case he gets back to the table. A very attacking shot there from Graham Dot. He's split them, but is he on one? 16. Yes, he can just get through to this red. 17. 24. 25. 30. Well, he's got the angle just to drop him behind these two reds. Well, to disturb them, if he wants to. Well, taking the more difficult brown. So maybe it's not a natural angle on the blue. 37. 38. Now, once again, he's on these two reds, but... 42. He could have done with being a little bit closer to them. This is a tough little cutback. Well played. 40. A little hard for the blue. Not hard enough for the yellow. You could tell him he's well okay. Good pot again. Good recovery shot. 40. He's going to play exceptionally well. But here comes another tough one. He's not intimidated. I think Ronnie knows that anyway. Yes, I fully agree. And he did take the game to him when he split those four reds behind the black spot. Trying to win the frame at this visit. 57. Could have done with just a little bit more pace in the cue ball there. He may be able to play the cannon to the red. That's nearest the middle pocket. Well, he could drop him behind them, but he's hit it a little bit hard. 64. Again, this is a tough one. That just needs the red. Oh, so close. And because he just needed the red, he played that cue ball into the block area, just in case he missed it. Well, that's another very good safety shot. In fact, I think he's got the snooker. Well, even if he could see that red, couldn't do a lot with it. Played it well. Had to swerve around the yellow slightly. Tap on the table from O'Sullivan. He knows how good a shot that was. Yeah, just a little bit too thick. And the kiss on the blue leaves O'Sullivan with a chance. Not an easy one. He just knocks them in for fun, doesn't he? Made it look easy. Coming around with two cushions to finish perfectly on the black. He's misjudged that one, though. A bit disappointed with that. Didn't get enough left-hand side on the cue ball. It's got to be close. On O'Sullivan. Oh, what a good opening frame this is. This is the kind of snooker that the crowd love to see. 4. Just a little too hard. So, pink to black could be the stumbling block. 6. 8. Oh, I agree with Joe. It's been a great frame of snooker. It looks like it's going to come down to the black. 11. 15. Made sure of getting the right side of the blue so he could get to the pink. 20. And that looks absolutely perfect to get to the black. But this pink isn't a gimme. Yeah, good shot. 26. Needs to bounce. That is a great clearance to win a great frame of snooker. What a start to this match. Graham Dott was so close. He took the game to O'Sullivan so close to taking it. But it's Ronnie O'Sullivan who leads in Cardiff by one frame to nil. They both gave it everything in every department. They went for their shots. They played the tactical game when they had to. It was a great frame. It was a little low. He's left a red on to the left middle. Oh, this is a bonus if he can get to this one. 1. Oh, didn't want the kiss. Just got a little bit too much left-hand side. He would have liked to have been straight on it. 9. Played it well. Pinch perfect. And when he takes this red, it releases another one to the right corner. 14. Nice little cannon here. 22. Now the red, that's at the back of the pack there. If he could drop on that one a little low to open the pack of reds. Go for the blue. But he needs to be low on the red. Now chose to go into them from there. And it was an attacking shot he played. But I think the other shot that I mentioned was a safer one to play. Because he would have been on the red at the very least. You can't fault his attacking attitude. Graham Dott, 30. The defending champ. Stuart Bingham here on table one after this match. Such a good safety player, Graham Dott. He sees ways out of situations. Now he can see that red. But very risky to take it on. Yes, and cleverly playing the cue ball over to the left side of the table. Which makes things a lot more difficult for O'Sullivan. Didn't want to catch that middle pocket bump. Would have been a good safety. Stroked it in beautifully. Holding for the black. And a little unfortunate to finish hampered over the red. Another excellent recovery shot. He just doesn't seem to let things bother him. There was no nodding of the head there when he finished up hampered. Just got on with the shot. Knew he had to play it. 59 centuries this season for O'Sullivan. He's made more than anyone else. And he'll make plenty more in this form. A beautiful positional shot again. Screwing close to that corner pocket. With all that side on the cue ball. He's closing in on 1,000 centuries. On breaking Stephen Hendry's ranking tournament tally. Equalling his world title tally. And to get to six. But you wouldn't be surprised, would you? Well, he's playing as well as what I've ever seen him play. Winning four rankings events in a season. Just when he comes to the table, you're expecting him to score very heavily. Yeah, he's only four behind Hendry on the ranking titles now. 32. 31. He's on five world titles. Hendry, seven. All these records that sort of stood like oak trees for years. Look like they'd never be felled. But they're going one by one. I could play a little cannon here to the red. He's on this red to the right corner. 17 points the lead. 48. 55. Well, Graeme Dotts played really well so far. But it looks like he's about to go 2-0 down. Yeah, and the difference between them both was that safety shot that Graeme played. Where he caught the middle pocket bump. Otherwise he would have had O'Sullivan in a little bit of trouble. O'Sullivan's pot success 97%. Safety 93. This reddish frame ball. 70. 71. Yes, applause. The frame ball. Very knowledgeable crowd in Wales. A little switch to left-handed. Doesn't seem to bother him. The funny thing is, Joe, he's been playing in this tournament now for 25 years. First played in the Welsh Open 1993. And just seems to be getting better as a player. Well, I think he is. I actually do think he's a better player because of his mental attitude. And also his patience. A complete player. So this blue for his 60th century break of this season. Quite incredible. 106. Average shot time for Ronnie O'Sullivan in this match 14 seconds. The black stays out. The break then 106. And in the blink of an eye, he's won the second frame. Leading Graeme Dotts 2-0. It's a real humdinger from Graeme Dotts. 1. What a shot that was. Especially what's just happened to him. That's two frames. And again, took a positive shot there. Opening the reds up. Or attempting to. I think he's on this red to the right corner. Could have played for any number of reds. But trying to win the frame at this visit. Because he knows he might not get another chance. Don't let O'Sullivan back to the table. That's his attitude. That way you can't steal frames off him. 15. 22. 23. It's awkward queuing. And the red only just goes. So gonna put his full concentration into the pot. 31. Made sure being on a colour to get back to the reds. Playing up for one of the bought colours. I think the two reds to the right of the pink. One of them will go. He's played it well. 30. 34. 41. 42. Graham Duck made a 1-4-7 at the British Open in 1999 in Plymouth. He won a Vauxhall Vectra. I've no idea if he still has it. Well, went into the red. Split them beautifully. But unfortunately he's not on an easy one. 49. He can only hit the left-hand side of the cue ball. Which is going to make the shot a lot more difficult. Oh, look at this. He's got the rest on top of the rest. Extensions and all sorts here. This is dicey stuff. Yep, that's why he wants to play the shot. Want to give us sort of any kind of a chance. Now, here's another one. Turn the spider on its side. I wonder what the difference is between on its side and using it like that. Can't, you can't get in there, can you? Can't get the tip of the cue in the cue ball. Now he wants to extend it. Anything else under there? Extended spider. Well, this is even worse. Now, the rest on top of the spider, I quite like. But this implement, horrible. Well played. He deserves a kiss. But he didn't get one. 50. Prefer a colour safe. Well, it was a battling 50 from Graham Dot. Dot O'Sullivan snookered. Now you can see this one. So he knows he should have got tight to the brown there. So difficult, isn't it, though, on these super fast tables to roll up behind the ball so easy. Hit it too hard or leave it short. A chance for Dot to seal this frame. Desperately needed that red in. And as David said, the best break builder in the game. Two reds safe. One. Well, I go back to what I said earlier. Dot's played really well today. But he knows, sat there, it could be 3-0 shortly. That's why I would have preferred a colour safe. Eight. Nine. Quarter. Delicate little shot. 50. Now he could play to disturb those two reds here. Or leave an angle on the other red to disturb them. Well, it could have been better if I let one of them. 23. Now, again, he may try and play the cannon to the red that's on the cushion. That would leave him on the other red. Or it couldn't have been any better, if you can see it. But even if he can, I think the red passes the yellow. It's confirmation the red does pass the yellow. Although it must be tighter down there than what we just saw. 31. 36. 37. How much side does he have on? Look at that. Absolutely perfect. Crowd really appreciating that shot. 43. Well, that could have been better. I think this is the wrong side of the pink. Needs to whiz. Could have done with being closer. 49. Right in the heart. And look at that. Round the two cushions. Perfectly onto the green. He needs the pink. 54. Brian Dot made a 50 break. He later missed a long red. Once again, O'Sullivan has pounced. There are a couple of reds safe. But is anything really safe when he's in this mood? Brian Dot's missed three balls in the whole afternoon. 60. O'Sullivan just needs this pink. And he's going to be a frame from victory. It's another fantastic break. It really is from Ronnie O'Sullivan. He's playing some stuff at the moment. Even by his own standards, this is impressive. Ronnie O'Sullivan leads Brian Dot by three frames to nil. I think to put himself, as I say, on the cusp of a place in the last 32. Talk about Ronnie O'Sullivan's fitness. David Grace, in the last couple of years, has lost six stone. Yes, I saw David yesterday and, my word, he looked well. False. Yeah, I won't be too bothered about that. Better to go in off than cue ball wobble and stay down this end of the table. I couldn't have caught that one any better. Interesting. Stuart Bingham, the defending champion, playing a 16-year-old amateur Welsh lad, Jackson Page. Oh, that's a great putt. And that's got him out of trouble. Pink is on to the middle. Oh, what a shame. Took the positive shot again. It could be costly. As I said at the start, it's a very tough draw to get last 64. The seeding structure is slightly different in the home nations. 30. He looks as good down on the shot left-handed as when he does right-handed. Some people look a little bit awkward when they switch hands, but he looks a natural. And just overrun things, so life. Graham Dott. Ronnie O'Sullivan, 20. And he's pushed a red on. I think the time has come for Graham Dott to start potting these. If he's going to stay in the match. And not a bad kiss on the blue. Oh, he's missed the blue. I knew as soon as he'd struck it and he'd missed it. Is he going to get away with it? I think he is. Played it with a lot of left-hand side on the cue ball. Avoid the pink. Oh, again, a very attacking shot there. And without the kiss, he would have left an easy red on. This red is still on, but more difficult. He makes it look so easy. Switch to left-handed again. So into the reds. And wait for it. Well, that saved Graham Dott. Just having a little smile because he hasn't got any position. But at least he's back at the table. Safety could have been better. Yeah, so we just go past the red. A good pot. Deserved more than just a snooker. Oh, it was kind of a hit and hope. And it hasn't worked out too badly. Yeah, that will do nicely. Yeah, it was well worth the effort. And the good kiss on the blue leaves him nicely on the pink. Tugging everything in there. That black just under his body. All that running though, he was fine there, Ronnie. Seven. Eight. Ten. Could have done without the kiss. That's still on the pink to the middle. Thirty points the difference. Red, colour red. Eighteen. So Dott needs a snooker. He's the man to beat this week, no question about it. And this has ended in a whitewash. At the moment, Ronnie O'Sullivan is just dismissing opponents. Yeah, he's absolutely full of confidence, isn't he? And that's what winning does. Winning breeds confidence. But it's all attitude towards the game. Especially his patience. Cannon didn't work out, but it doesn't matter. Now the rocket has lift off in the Welsh Open. He whitewashes Graham Dott 4-0. A couple of good clearances. His 60th century of the season as well. Graham Dott gave it his all. But in the end, it's Ronnie O'Sullivan who's the winner here by four frames to nil.