Ronnie O’Sullivan 153 unseen moment emerges as play stopped | Other | Sport
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s historic break at the World Open led to another snooker match being temporarily halted. The 50-year-old clinched a 153 break in Yushan in the quarter-final against Ryan Day on his way to claiming a 5-0 win to reach the semi-final.
O’Sullivan cleared the table in one break in the opening frame of the contest, which included potting the green as a 16th red and led to the seven-time world champion wrapping up the highest-ever break in competitive professional snooker.
As O’Sullivan neared the end of the historic break, there was another match taking place on the next table at the Yushan Sports Centre in China.
Mark Allen and Wu Yize were going head-to-head in their quarter-final match when the game stopped for a brief moment to watch the end of the opening frame between O’Sullivan and Day.
Allen and Wu were watching from near their table as O’Sullivan potted the final balls of the historic 153 break, where they were also joined by match referee Zhang Tao.
O’Sullivan will now face Wu in the semi-final of the World Open, with the latter claiming a 5-1 win over Allen in his quarter-final match.
After making snooker history on Friday, O’Sullivan sent a message offering his appreciation for the support and praise he had received following his 153 break.
“Just want to say a big shoutout to everyone congratulating me, messaging me, on the 153. Yeah, it was a pretty cool moment,” O’Sullivan said in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Thank you to everyone out there who has supported me. So keep enjoying the snooker in Yushan, take care.”
O’Sullivan also said in an earlier interview what his motivation was to achieve the highest-ever break in snooker.
“It was a great buzz, I could have tried and got the other black, but I thought nobody has ever made a break above 147 on TV, so I thought I would be the first,” O’Sullivan told the World Snooker Tour.
“I still feel a little rusty, I obviously haven’t played enough matches and tournaments, that’s what everybody seems to be saying. I’m still hoping to shake the rustiness off – that’s just a joke.
“I’m sure that’s up there (with other moments in his career), two 147s in one match was quite cool. I just wish I got paid more for it that’s all.”
