O’Sullivan slams ‘awful’ World Championship incident | Other | Sport
Ronnie O’Sullivan was not impressed with the longest frame in World Championship history (Image: GettyImages)
Snooker icon Ronnie O’Sullivan has slammed Mark Allen’s 100-minute-and-21-second frame against Wu Yize at this year’s World Championship. The pair were locked in a stalemate as a crowd of red balls covered the black in a corner pocket; figures such as Steve Davis labelled the uneventful back and forth embarrassing, while the referee failed to step in.
Fans grew frustrated as Allen and Yize went 40 minutes without potting a ball before referee Marcel Eckhardt eventually handed the players three shots to change the play or face a re-rack. With Allen not wanting to give up his numerical advantage, he eventually sank the black for a foul and ultimately lost the frame to the eventual world champion.
The Rocket would have no part in such a battle, however, and would have quickly broken the balls apart. Speaking at the inaugural Global Snooker 900 championship, O’Sullivan claimed victory in Reading after winning three matches on the bounce.
The 900 format exhibits a faster version of the sport where frames cannot last longer than 15 minutes and there is a 20-second shot clock. It’s environment that the 50-year-old finds himself at home in.
Asked about the contrast between the controversial World Championship frame and the play in Reading, Sullivan said: “A 100-minute frame? Oh, yeah, that’s awful. I wouldn’t get involved in that.
“I’d have opened them up and said, you can have that one, just get on with the next one. That’s not going to work for me. Definitely not.
“The Snooker 900 keeps the tempo going. It makes you think on your feet. I really like it.
“I used to love the shot clock in the Premier League. We used to play every Thursday, six frames, the same thing, maybe 30 seconds. It was two hours, bang, done.”
O’Sullivan took him the £100,000 tournament’s top prize after defeating Luca Brecel 10-5 in the final, just a week after becoming the World Seniors Champion with a victory over Joe Perry. The Rocket lauded his opponent and the 900 tournament.
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Mark Allen and Wu Yize played a frame that went on 100 minutes (Image: Getty)
“I’m enjoying playing,” he added. “It’s the first time in three years where I feel comfortable with my technique, getting through the ball. Still room for improvement if I want to go down that road.
“I know Luca hasn’t been around for two years. We’ve both struggled and haven’t played a lot. But for me he’s a world-class player. He’s the best player to watch.
“I mean with him, you go back to Alex Higgins or Jimmy White. I love watching him play. He’s just unbelievable. If he wants to apply himself he could probably be world champion again.
“I just love this format. If you asked 128 players, I reckon 70% of them would say we would rather play under this format.
“Because you know, we’ve played a lot of snooker today but we’re not sitting here till one or two in the morning. We’re not playing sessions and thinking, what time will we get something to eat? We know where we are.
“Jason’s come up with an amazing format. I just think he’’s hit the sweet spot with snooker really. If Jason can get some sort of Tour going, with some form of backing or whatever, I’m sure this will be it. This is here to stay forever.”
