The Antrim potter produced two magnificent centuries – 135 and 105 though he still has a bit to go to better Ronnie O’Sullivan’s infamous 146 – en route to beating Day 4-1 at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena in round three last night.
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Mark Selby top scored with 74 in a 4-2 win over Fergal O’Brien and now faces Mark Williams.
O’Sullivan was in ruthless mood as he fired breaks of 110, 90, 112 and 102, his Chinese opponent scoring just 37 points in four frames.
Welshman Ryan Day made an 87 in the decider to beat Mike Dunn 4-3 while Mark Allen beat Shoot Out champion Robin Hull by the same scoreline.
Eurosport is the Home of Snooker, showing 19 tournaments per season, including the World Championship, UK Championship, Welsh Open and the Masters, as well as the exclusive series “The Ronnie O’Sullivan Show”. “I was keeping an eye on Mark’s match on the next table and it seemed as though it was a good game with both of them playing well”, added Selby.
“When I’m at home, I up with the kids then try to get right into practice and I feel as if I need to be up for about three or four hours”.
“I think sub-consciously you know you will have to lift your level as the tournament goes towards the weekend”. I’ve been practising a lot for this tournament and had a pretty good match there, so if I keep doing what I’m doing then I’ll turn those games into wins. There is a mindset where you need to be yourself.
“I see Stephen Fry, one of the greatest men in this country, has upset some people with something he said at the Baftas”. I couldn’t perform, I’d be too anxious. “I made a few big breaks after that but the start was so important because if I had lost that frame I would have been struggling”. I didn’t play too well but I got my chances and I took them.
Some have said he has brought the game into disrepute but Ronnie brings the game into fine repute.
Last year’s victor John Higgins, the world No3 Neil Robertson and Judd Trump, sixth in the rankings, all advanced but Shaun Murphy, the world No4, was knocked out after a 4-2 loss to Luca Brecel, while another former world champion Graeme Dott lost by the same margin to Marco Fu.
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“He’s someone I’m yet to play really well against, but I feel like if I can play how I have been and maybe improve a bit, I will win”.
