Magical O'Sullivan hits two tons to reach last eight
Ronnie O'Sullivan was a man in a hurry as he made two centuries in beating Joe Perry 5-1 to reach the German Masters quarter-finals.
O'Sullivan was forced to recover from trailing 4-0 to oust Andrew Higginson 5-4 in Berlin on Thursday, but needed only 64 minutes to complete a sparkling 5-1 win over Perry in the last 16.
O'Sullivan made breaks of 110, 63 and 69 to open up a 3-1 lead with Perry contributing a knock of 63 in the second frame to win his solitary frame of the match.
Perry was afforded little respite as an effort of 123 carried O'Sullivan 4-1 ahead before further knocks of 57 and 35 rounded off a thoroughly convincing win.
O'Sullivan will face Matthew Stevens for a place in the semi-finals after the Welshman enjoyed a surprising 5-1 win over the Masters champion Neil Robertson. The quarter-finals get underway at 7.30pm (GMT) on Friday night.
Stevens opened with a break of 86 before the Masters champion Robertson levelled with a run of 76. Robertson was perhaps not in peak condition after missing last weekend's shoot-out in Blackpool due to a virus.
Stevens dominated matters from the third frame onwards as runs of 58, 89 and 69 cemented his spot in the last eight.
"He played brilliant and deserved to win," said Robertson. "It should be a cracker of a match tonight with him and Ronnie."
Mark Williams set up a quarter-final with Stephen Lee courtesy of a 5-2 win over Stuart Bingham. Williams had lost to Bingham in the final of the Australian Open final, but it became clear there would be no repeat in Berlin.
Williams won the opening frames with breaks of 55 and 92 before Bingham claimed the third frame with an 84. Williams won the next two frames for a 4-1 lead aided by runs of 52 and 66.
A 95 kept alive Bingham's hopes, but Williams extinguished them with a timely run of 68 in the seventh frame.
Mark Selby will face Shaun Murphy in the last quarter-final after scraping past Graeme Dott 5-3 in a predictably exacting match.
Quarter-finals (best of nine frames)
7.30pm
Stephen Lee v Mark Williams
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Matthew Stevens
Mark Selby v Shaun Murphy
Judd Trump v Stephen Maguire
Comment 1 - 15 of 15
Yes we can say Joe Davis won the most Championships, but in his day the opponents were not of a higher standard and they were of only a handful in competitions. I was talking of the 'Modern Era' where Stephen Hendry has won more. I'm talking about Hendry and Ronnie, because it's easily between them two .Ronnie became a pro in 1992, so it wasn't like when he turned up on the circuit, he knocked the stuffing out of Hendry. He did win the UK final in 93 I think between them, but Hendry still was the better player, more consistent and more experienced. Both players came at different times and peaked at different times.
Snooker is a mental game like many sports, that's where Hendry edges it apart from winning more Titles. He had the temperament and coolness. This is what separates them. But without question these two are the best and then everyone else.
Some good points. It's fair to say that Hendry is the most 'successful player in the modern game, but obviously success is relevant to opposition. As noted Joe Davis won the world championship , I think, 22 times, far more than any other player, but the reality is the opposition was very average, and I think Davis was a big hitter on the WPSB association at the time, and was instrumental in just who was allowed to enter tournaments. There was a chap knocking about at the time who was well known, Jimmy White talks about this in his biography. This chap evidently hammered Davis in private money matches, but had a crime record, so Davis used it to prevent him entering tournaments.
Hendry destroyed Steve Davis. Jimmy White was the only player who could rattle Hendry until O Sullivan came along. When O Sullivan came along Hendry visibly shrunk, and within months it was clear that Hendry was a spent force in the game, such were the beatings that O Sullivan administered.
O Sullivan certainly should and could have achieved more in the game, he's under achieved by his standard, but the question of who is the 'best' ever. Well, O Sullivan, by a considerable margin. The real question is who would be the 2nd best player ever.
And just for the record books, statisticians, Joe Davis won the world championship over 20 times, so working on your criteria, he must be the best player of all time, when in reality Joe wouldnt get a frame off the top players thesedays.Try to think about what you say, before you say it
Theres lies, @#$% lies, and then theres statistics. When the best players in the world acknowledge that O Sullivian is the best snooker player ever, then theres little to be said.
Ronnie would prefer to have the most World Titles over the centuries and 147 records.
comment 7,
shaun,
he speaks the truth...why people thumb him down?
Shaun, you're half right.
Yes Ronnie hasn't broken Hendry's record of titles won, unfortunately nor will he do that because of his temperament ,but that doesn't matter mate.
Ronnie at 100% is better than any other player at 100 %. That makes him the BEST EVER, while Hendry is the greatest. There's a big difference between the 2.
FYI Ronnie will break Hendry's number of century breaks .Before the start of this tournament , Ronnie had 662, Hendry had 769. But Hendry has been playing 7 years longer. Considering Hendry's good days are behind him and since Ronnie's century average is better , in 4 years time , Ronnie will have more.
BTW Ronnie also holds the record for 147 breaks.
why do people insist on putting FACT at the end of statements which are clearly just their point of view? the best snooker player can only be decided by an individual. some still say steve davis, some hendry, o'sullivan and in a few years it will probably be people like trump and ding.
Leeds - what a load of old tosh. You say O sullivan has broken or in the process of breaking????????? How about,
Hendry 7 world titles - O Sullivan 3 world titles
O Sullivan will never break any more of Hendrys records. He hasn' got the heart to do it any more. I guarantee you wont even see him near a snooker table (not on TV anyway) in 5 more years time.
Yes O sullivan is the best natural talent to ever play the game of snooker. Yes O Sullivan could have been the greatest player the game has ever seen. But he isnt. Mainly due to his head and his temperament.
To me you cannot compare Hendry vs O Sullivan on how they played against each other. That's totally unfair. It's like comparing Ronaldinho and Messi now.
Best natural snooker talent O Sullivan, best ever snooker player Hendry.
Theres a big difference between the 2. FACT
no way sullivan at his very best no one in the history of the game can touch in a one off match
Stephen Hendry with the most World Championship Titles. Him at his peak would have any of them at their peak. The standard we watch today, was laid out by Stephen Hendry.
Here we again. Even though Hendry himself admits that OSullivan is the best player in the world ever, even though it was O Sullivan who toppled Hendry when he arrived on the scene, even though every relevant record set by Hendry, O'Sullivan has broken or in the process of. Even though the biggest defeats Hendry suffered were all at the hands of O Sullivan. The only record of any worth still intact by Hendry is the amount of 100 breaks, which at my last check was about 80 more than O'Sullivan, however, thats with 7 seasons longer in the game.
A man who knows the price of everything, knows the value, of nothing.
stephen hendry was better mate,just lost it since he slowed his game down.
no that was a wee scotsman named stephen hendry
Ronnie is the BEST EVER.
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