Ruthless Ronnie O’Sullivan opens up 10-6 semi-final lead over John Higgins
Ronnie O’Sullivan took command of his World Championship semi-final against John Higgins in ruthless fashion at the Crucible.
O’Sullivan made breaks of 99, 91, 70 and 73 to open up a 10-6 lead, but it was the manner in which he won the last frame of the session on a respotted black which will have hurt Higgins the most.
Higgins looked set to limit the damage – and make his highest break of the match into the bargain – only to miss a black off the spot which would have left O’Sullivan needing a snooker.
Ronnie O'Sullivan has extended his semi final lead over John Higgins to 10-6.A re-spotted black settled frame 16.#ilovesnooker | @Betfred
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) April 29, 2022
The six-time champion produced a stunning positional shot to get on the black from the penultimate red and a 43 clearance levelled the scores at 58-58.
O’Sullivan’s attempt to double the respotted black left Higgins with a difficult pot into the green pocket which the 46-year-old Scot was unable to convert, the black running down the table to leave O’Sullivan a simple pot into the middle.Higgins had earlier taken two of the first three frames of the day to lead 6-5, but O’Sullivan kicked off a winning run of five frames in a row with a break of 99, despite having to ask referee Marcel Eckardt to remind spectators in the front few rows to sit still.
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