O'Sullivan v Liang: The 'Rocket' prevailed at the end of a dramatic game when it looked for all the world that he would be packing his bags.
The UK Masters are kicking off this weekend, and Ronnie O'Sullivan is looking to take his seventh title to move beyond Stephen Hendry as the man with the most titles ever in the competition. But in his first round match against Liang Wenbo today it looked for all the world like the 'Rocket' would be packing his bags at the earliest possible stage.
With the game at 5-4 to Liang, the Chinese world number eleven had just the black to pot to win the match and proceed to the quarter-finals. Everyone in the room - including O'Sullivan - was readying themselves for the exit doors as Liang eyed up the shot.
But instead, this happened.
O'Sullivan v Liang highlights
And then, inevitably, this happened.
Wenbo misses match black in the 10th and Ronnie O'Sullivan wins the decider in style with a cool 121 break, 6-5! @yourallypally #snooker pic.twitter.com/NtDaoAqKMx
— Steve (@MaximumSnooker) January 15, 2017
It was a brilliant match between two phenomenal players, and as usual when the 'Rocket' is in the mood there were a couple of fairly special shots from O'Sullivan - including this outrageous positional shot...
...and this example of needle-eye precision.
O'Sullivan will now play either Neil Robertson or Ali Carter in the last eight. A match against either of those experienced heads should be terrific.
