Ronnie O’Sullivan marched into the second round of the Scottish Open courtesy of an exquisite performance against Dominic Dale, rounded up in a 4-3 win. However, that scoreline does only little to give the full tale of what went down at the table after two incidents punctuated the extraordinary game.
To kickstart the chain of events that went down, Ronnie O’Sullivan was penalized for playing too quickly, with the veteran opting to pot a ball before the blue had been returned to the table.
In the second event, the Rocket, who was about to level matters at 2-2 after a sensational cannon on the final black, moved it over to the middle pocket. Surprisingly, the five-time world champion blasted it into the jaws gifting Dale seven points as a penalty, a frame the latter went on to win.
Asides these strange events, it was a thrilling performance between the duo. Dale started on the front foot, racing to a 2-0 lead over O’Sullivan. Dale secured the second frame, thanks to a break of 50, after sealing the first in multiple visits to the table.
The Rocket soon seemed to level matters in the fourth frame but gifted the frame to Dale to give the two-time ranking winner a 3-1 lead. Ronnie knocked the cue ball off the table so powerfully that mouths were left gaping.
Having lost the fourth frame, the veteran put his act together to half the deficit and make it 3-2. There was still a whole lot to play for, and maybe, just maybe Ronnie could scrape a win, his dedicated and cheering fans must have thought to themselves.
For the most part, it wasn’t a pretty game for the Rocket, and he looked like he was headed for a shock defeat. However, the veteran soon showed why he was one of the finest fingers to have ever graced the game.
Ronnie, who is worth over £11million on his earnings via the sport, completed a 4-3 win over Dominic Dale to make it to the second round of the Scottish Open. He’s always complained about how hectic the preliminary stages are but will be happy to take it one step at a time.
Written by: Roland Arum