The Rocket Fails To Launch At The China Open
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s hopes of taking off at the Honghe Industrial 2008 World Snooker China Open have been seized by Hong Kong’s Marco Fu. Yesterday’s defeat was a close match, so close that the result was resting on the last three balls.
Ronnie’s laid back performance was maybe a little too casual as he attempted a few risky shots to many, which enabled Fu to strike quickly and claim the match.
The first eight frames weren’t enough to determine a possible winner because both competitors displayed consistent breaks. O’Sullivan continued runs of 74, 53, 77 and 99, and Fu returned with runs of 58, 56, 88, and 121.
As the end of the final frame became tense, Fu was lucky enough to leave the Rocket snookered and ultimately claim his win; quite impressive as he was originally 50-0 down at the start of the last frame. Marco recognised that Ronnie wasn’t on top form,
‘I don’t think Ronnie was totally focused. His play was casual at times.’
O’Sullivan, currently ranked number one, humbly accepted the defeat,
‘I tried hard and I’m very disappointed, but there has to be a loser. I lost to the better player on the night so I’ve no complaints. I played well, but he played better.’
Marco Fu will face Mark Selby in the next round.
More Results:
Mark Selby 5-2 Ricky Walden
Mark Allen 5-2 Neil Robertson
Ali Carter 5-3 Stuart Bingham