JEDDAH: Ronnie O’Sullivan pulled off a sensational comeback victory against Chang Bingyu to reach the quarter-finals of the second annual Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Jeddah.
The snooker legend trailed 5-2 on Wednesday night before storming back to beat surprise package Bingyu 6-5, and for a second successive tournament set up a last-eight clash with fellow Englishman Kyren Wilson, who defeated Si Jiahui 6-3.
“I have realized now I took this game for granted before, because when I was struggling I lost my confidence and lost my swagger, and that’s something you can’t fake,” said O’Sullivan, the world No. 5, after booking a place in what will be his 148th ranking quarter-final.
The fan-favorite described the Saudi Masters as his home tournament, now that he lives in Dubai and has an academy that bears his name in Riyadh.
Mark Williams also made it through to the last eight with a 6-1 victory against Shaun Murphy. He will now face Elliot Slessor, who progressed with a thrilling 6-5 defeat of Stuart Bingham.
Four-time world champion Mark Selby became only the fifth player to rack up 900 career centuries thanks to a 119 break against Neil Robertson, but ultimately lost the match 6-4. Ali Carter beat Oliver Lines 6-3 and will take on Robertson in the quarter-finals. Barry Hawkins and Chris Wakelin also progressed to complete the last-eight lineup.
The quarter-finals will be played on Thursday. The tournament, which takes place at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City, is organized by the Saudi Billiards and Snooker Federation, in partnership with Matchroom and cooperation with the World Snooker Tour, under the supervision of the Ministry of Sports.
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