RONNIE O'Sullivan yesterday revealed he had packed his bags ready for a quick Crucible exit before firing a brilliant 147 maximum break in the 888.com World Championship in Sheffield.
O'Sullivan punched the air in delight after completing the stunning clearance to seal a 13-7 victory over Mark Williams and book his place in the last eight.
It was only the seventh maximum at the venue – O'Sullivan has now made three of them and
a record nine in competition – and earned the 32-year-old a bonus of £147,000, as well as £10,000 for the highest break of the tournament.
O'Sullivan resumed with a 9-7 lead and won four frames in a row with breaks of 71, 60, 100 and 147 to advance to the last eight in incredible style. He said: "A 147 always feels great and to do one in Sheffield is fantastic. I've had three this season and they are a real adrenalin buzz, great for the fans and TV. I do give a bit of value for money, I might not be everyone's cup of tea but I'm pleased I can give back to the game."
O'Sullivan, who will now face Liang Wenbo after the Chinese 21-year-old claimed an extraordinary last-frame win over Northern Ireland's Joe Swail last night, added: "To be honest I'd packed my bags. I thought if I get beat here I don't really want to go back and start looking for pants and socks under the settee, so I packed my bags and they'll stay packed until the end now. That was the frame of mind I was in. But sometimes I'm sitting in my room and I'm not really bothered if I do. I wish I never had thoughts like that."
Scotland's Stephen Maguire also secured his place in the last eight but had to work for a 13-7 victory over Australia's Neil Robertson after winning the opening session of the match 8-0. He will now play Joe Perry, who beat Stuart Bingham 13-9.
The Glaswegian had been installed as the tournament favourite, but insisted O'Sullivan was always the man to beat.
"The bookmakers sometimes don't know what they're talking about," the 27-year-old said. "There will be eight players left after tonight and they all know who the favourite is."
Liang looked to have his match won when he led 12-10 and 59-44 with only pink and black remaining. The left-hander celebrated after potting what he thought was the decisive blue but, after missing a tough pink into the middle pocket, Swail laid a good snooker, Liang missed and Swail cleared up to reduce the deficit to 12-11.
Swail took the 24th frame to force a decider and there was still time for another twist in the decider as Liang led by 27 with 27 left on the table, only to again fail to get out of a snooker.
Liang was then desperately unlucky to knock the green in when attempting to pot the yellow, but Swail missed a simple brown and the Chinese youngster finally sealed a remarkable victory.
The full article contains 530 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
