Ronnie cikk, közkívánatra:DDD
AWESOME O’SULLIVAN STORMS INTO SEMIS
Ronnie O’Sullivan earned a day off tomorrow as he completed a crushing 13-3 defeat of Anthony Hamilton at the Crucible tonight (Monday).
The Rocket was at his magnificent best as he saw off his practice partner with a session to spare. O’Sullivan goes through to the semi-finals of the Embassy World Championship to face Ian McCulloch or old adversary Stephen Hendry.
The world No 3, champion in 2001, rattled in breaks of 82, 64, 109, 106, 131, 70, 64, 76, 72, 121 and 62, leaving Hamilton without a look in. He has now made 10 centuries in the event and is closing in on Hendry’s individual record of 16, set in 2002.
But the hot shot from Chigwell in Essex warned his rivals that there could be more to come. “I’m not going to be too hard on myself, but there is room for improvement,” said the 28-year-old. “I’m trying not to assess things, I’m just enjoying myself. It’s nice to have a day off tomorrow, it means I can lounge around for a bit longer! Hopefully I can make 20 centuries, but I don’t want to predict whether I can do that.”
O’Sullivan revealed after his previous match that he has been receiving coaching from snooker legend Ray Reardon, the six-times world champion. “Ray has a lot of invaluable experience,” added the mercurial genius. “He knows what it’s all about and it’s nice to share things with him. I’ve had people in my corner before but Ray gives a different type of support.
“He has basically just told me to do a lot more of what I’m doing and sometimes you need to hear that. He’s a top man and we get on well – if we didn’t there would be no point to the relationship.”
Reardon returned the compliment: “I’m here to see Ronnie win the tournament. He’s a magician but he sometimes gets lost in his own spells.”
O’Sullivan also fielded questions at his press conference on recent controversy surrounding his behaviour at the table, and a subsequent response from World Snooker chairman Sir Rodney Walker.
“I know I should set a good example and I have to try my best to do that,” he added. “Sir Rodney was right and I was wrong. I’m human and I will probably make many more mistakes, but I have to try to learn from them.”
World No 20 Hamilton, based in London where he practises with the Rocket, was philosophical about the result. “Even if I had played my best I would have lost 13-7,” said the former British Open and China Open runner-up. “The first session was the best anyone has played against me, and close to the best I’ve seen.
“By the time I was 5-0 down I knew I was going to lose the match. I had one chance in the first frame, one in the eighth and that was it. Ronnie made all his chances himself and took them. He was different class. At the moment I can’t see anyone beating him, though he could meet Stephen Hendry in the semi-finals and if Stephen raises his game he could do it.
“Ronnie looks serious, he played very hard and his safety was spot on. Every time I came to the table I was in trouble and he didn’t play any careless shots. I’m not sure how good he is left-handed though, he’s top 64 but no better. In the club I tell him he can play left-handed all day because that way I might beat him!”
