2008 888.com World Championship

READ ALL THE CUE SPORTS LATEST NEWS - JOIN THE GLOBAL CUE SPORTS FORUM

Ladder - QUALIFYING RESULTS  - CRUCIBLE RESULTS  - INFORMATION - MATCH NOTES - PLAYER CUEFACTS

GALLERIES: No. 1 Preliminary Rounds - No. 2 Qualifying Rounds

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN

v

LIANG WENBO

Quarter Final 2

(Best of 25 frames)

Tuesday 29 April 14.30

Wednesday 30 April 10.00

Wednesday 30 April 19.00

 

Match Notes

A great welcome for the players from a packed Crucible... welcome to our coverage, you join an estimated 51 millions viewers seeing the match live in China.. Ronnie overcuts his first attempted red so the first pot falls to Wenbo.. and a great start so far, onto 49 now, black open,  a couple more loose reds, onto 71, 5 reds left and an excellent run of 80 to win the opener... Ronnie's long red careers round the table and there's a red for Wenbo again... onto 40, one red at the edge of the pack still open... and he's a contortionist as well, if I tried to sit on a table like that I'd be in intensive care! he misses that chipped long red on 48... Ronnie pots it but goes in-off, he's not got started yet... he's left a red on, he's now 66 ahead,  and there goes frame ball red.. Wenbo's making the game look far too easy at the moment...

At last Ronnie pots his first ball of the match, needs a good shot off the red in baulk to get into any sort of position and he does, onto 29... up to 68 and he's won the frame now.. and now cruised to a century... Don't blink, here comes Wenbo again, good red, brown to centre, a few open reds to go at... he's made 26 but lost his position, so has to play safe... Wenbo's safety there ran back past the baulk line and that's an invitation to Ronnie... only 20, Ronnie can't retain position at that visit.. Wenbo takes on a risky green and he's left Ronnie right in amongst the reds... and Ronnie levels the match at the interval...

Ronnie fires in a red after the resumption... and in no time at all he's onto 56... 75, frame safe... O'Sullivan fires in a red from Wenbo's break, going nicely until a red along the top rail stays out, he bangs his cue down in annoyance... Wenbo's made 55 so far from this chance and a great 90 now, can he make a century, yes he can, great stuff... A careless safety shot by Wenbo catches the middle jaw and leaves a red on for Ronnie who loses position on 16... Wenbo's got a red, all about position off the blue now.. Wenbo adds 22 but he can't develop the pack, he's got Ronnie snookered who makes a great escape and gets everything safe... An error from Ronnie lets Wenbo back to the table.. he's 42 ahead now, one more ball needed, no problem and Wenbo regains the lead with one frame left to play today... Into the last frame and Wenbo has spotted a plant in the pack... he misses the brown though and now a rare safety exchange... Ronnie wins that encounter and now has plenty of reds at his mercy... in the blink of an eye he's made 64 and Wenbo needs a snooker... he's not giving this up without a fight, taking four reds and colours and then he'll lay the snooker, if he can, with the last red, but it's gone wrong he misses the black and concedes... a brilliant session comes to an end.

Good morning, welcome back, second session of this exciting match, level at 4-4, but can Wenbo hold O'Sullivan today... Wenbo starts with 14 but he's missed a tight red and left balls on everywhere for Ronnie and he's rattling through the loose reds, 34 now, onto 69, one red needed, no problem... Ronnie's in again at the start of frame ten... he is playing so well you expect him to make a big break at every opportunity, which he's done again here, 67, but he's missed a red, Wenbo needs two snookers... he's laid the first one... Ronnie misses it, still a spark of hope for Wenbo in the frame... he's unlucky to go in off, Ronnie gets the red and the frame.

Ronnie's off and running again and this looks very ominous for Wenbo now... he's eyeing up another 147, 48 so far, reds all open... interesting if he makes one, is the prize split in three with him getting two shares and Carter one? academic because he's missed an easy red on 56... Wenbo misses on 23, he's under a lot of pressure now.. he's left them on, another frame will slip away now... Wenbo needs two snookers... he's 23 behind now on the blue, he's taken the blue he could win with one snooker on the pink.. he's still trying to get in behind the black but hasn't found the line yet.. Ronnie puts it to an end with a cracking long pink and now leads 7-4... Straight from Wenbo's break off Ronnie gets a chance, he's on 147 search again, only 40 so far but the reds are open... he can't stay on the black, he's made 52 but he's not on a colour now unless he takes a distant baulk colour, no he plays safe... Wenbo misses his red and leaves one for Ronnie, frame over... he's won all four up to the interval... and this clearance has been full of the most amazing shots... Business as usual by Ronnie after the interval, he whistles through another frame, 81 on the board now and there's another century... his sixth in this year's championship... and he completes a marvellous 138 total clearance.. it's completely one way traffic now, I can't see anything Wenbo can do about it... O'Sullivan is first in again but this time he's missed a black trying to force an angle... there's a red on for Wenbo, who must be shell-shocked after this morning's onslaught by Ronnie... he can't turn it into a scoring visit.. Ronnie's safety yields another chance for him... and that's another frame in one visit... Wenbo  goes for a long red, he's missed it, caught the pack and opened everything up for Ronnie... gosh, he's missed one! A chance for Wenbo to put some points together.... he's moved on to 33 at this visit, still got plenty to go for... he's missed one but made 41... Ronnie's let Wenbo back in so now a good chance to win a frame... that long red stayed out but he's 52 ahead now... 5 reds left and Ronnie pots one up into the green pocket... but he can only play safe there... Wenbo leads by 42 with 59 left on... Wenbo fires in a crazy red and that should win him the frame... it does... Ronnie gets a nice opening in frame 16... he's after that 147... if he, or anyone else, does get another one, then the prize is shared, so Ronnie would pick up two shares and Carter one... there have been so many attempts this year that it's highly likely we'll get another one, not at this attempt though, he's missed the black on 33... Wenbo misses a sitter and lets Ronnie back in and he's made another 28 now, so 54 ahead... the break ends but he's 69 up with 67 left on... Wenbo fouls and concedes...

join us again at 19.00 for the conclusion of this match... welcome back for the final session of the match... it looks like Ronnie broke Wenbo's resistance this morning with a barrage of breaks, but we'll see what Wenbo's got left in the tank in a few minutes.. a fabulous opening red by Wenbo gets the evening's proceedings underway... but a kiss puts the black out of commission and he narrowly misses the long blue... well how did that stay out? Ronnie rattles a red and lets Wenbo straight back in again... and now he's got the black back on its spot it's a decent scoring opportunity for him... and now he's split the pack it could be a frame winning visit... he's 48 ahead... great effort by Wenbo, frame is safe, crowd is loving it... they'd like to see the match run a lot longer... onto the next and Wenbo's put Ronnie in trouble with a safety shot and that gives him a chance and there's a cracking red to start... Wenbo moves onto 29, in good position but only one more open red.. he's got a few more open and moved onto 53 but he's forced to play safe now.. Ronnie hasn't quite settled down yet tonight... he's given the table a thump after that shot went wrong... that's better a thumping red after Wenbo missed a rather ambitious double... he only makes twenty, he's not happy at the moment... but now a run of 37 brings the scores level... Ronnie's on the green .. but he's missed the brown with the rest... Wenbo gets it but is faced with a longish blue with the rest... oh it was so close, it's over the pocket for Ronnie.. Wenbo is first in again in frame nineteen... only 20 and Ronnie's in, this could be the run to the line.. onto 48 and reds still open, but he's run out of position at 54... Wenbo's found a plant and he's pulled out a brilliant pink to the middle... he's missed a hard red with the rest but it's safe, so Ronnie has a 20 point lead with two reds on... Ronnie's left one over the middle... and Wenbo, cool as a cucumber, has cleared up.. Wenbo's left an easy red over the middle from his break off, but amazingly Ronnie has missed it... Wenbo has made 41 so far and leaves that black hanging in the jaws... there's a terrific red by Ronnie... he's moved onto 51-41, he's on the last red, it looks like the end...  and it is as Ronnie clears with 79, so he goes forward to a mouth-watering semi-final against Stephen Hendry and Wenbo waves goodbye to the Crucible, but only for this year I'm sure...

FRAME SCORES

1. 0-80(80)

2. 0-101(48,49)

3. 113(109)-0

4. 78(58)-27

5. 75(71)-0

6. 24-104(104)

7. 20-112(89)

8. 70(64)-25

FRAME SCORES

9. 76(76)-14

10. 80(67)-29

11. 71(56)-53

12. 109(52,57)-0

13. 138(138)-0

14. 92(86)-8

15. 9-75(41)

16. 76(33,36)-0

FRAME SCORES

17. 8-78(66)

18. 69-57(53)

19. 54(54)-62

20. 79(79)-48(41)

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

QUOTES

WINNER

.

QUOTES