- Ronnie O’Sullivan was facing Zhao Xintong on Thursday
- Xintong put the black ball with such ferocity that she broke a pocket
- The pocket breakup led to several balls on the plane of the crucible
The first semi-final of the world snooker championship this year went down to chaos on Thursday afternoon, when one of the pockets broke in the middle of a frame.
The champion seven times, Ronnie O’Sullivan, faced the star of the Chinese climb Zhao Xintong and had made an advance of 4-3 before the last executive of the session.
Zhao was at the table and moved 66-32 at the front as he was potted. However, while the black hit the pocket, it suddenly broke out and two red balls stole through the crucible.
The crowd saw the funny side when the bizarre moment encountered laughter, while Zhao looked a little amazed when he turned to the referee.
He was told to continue, the referee assuring him that he would repair the pocket after the conclusion of the frame.
Zhao continued to conclude the frame to draw at level 4-4 with O’Sullivan, and managed to avoid the damaged pocket for the majority of his break.
Zhao Xintong put the black ball against Ronnie O’Sullivan and the pocket broke, with bullets flying on the ground
The pocket breaks has left several balls on the ground in a really bizarre moment
Zhao and the crowd saw the funny side, and he continued to play with a broken pocket
However, he needed it for final pink and black, and the crowd broke again when he found the target and the bullets crushed on the ground.
The BBC then returned to the studio, with the presenter Seema Jaswal admitting that she had never seen a pocket like that before.
Experts Shaun Murphy and John Parrott conceded that it was a rare event, but assured Jaswal that he would be quickly fixed before this evening’s action.
The broken pocket incident put an end to a session that saw O’Sullivan cut a frustrated silhouette while it ended the whole square against the player he once plunged to become the greatest of all time.
The rocket, 49, spoke of having to “rebuild” its technique before the world championship and it seemed to have technical problems in the opening exchanges with Zhao.
O’Sullivan looked twice his right arm after missing simple pots, indicating a fight to force his signal correctly. And his highest break was only 82 in a session that finished 4-4.
After relatively serene progress so far in Sheffield, O’Sullivan seems ready to receive a real Zhao test in this first equality – which resumes on Friday morning – while he asks to reach the final of Sunday and claim a record crown of crucible.
Qualifer Zhao also aims to make history as the first Chinese world champion and he seemed comfortable in his first appearance in the semi-finals.
The 28 -year -old plays here as an amateur, having only returned from a 20 -month fixing ban in September. Before the scandal, he won the British championship in 2021 and was already supervised by his latest rival O’Sullivan.
O’Sullivan remained unhappy with his technique several times on Thursday
He said he did not play well throughout the tournament, despite the reach of the last four
Barry Hearn had interviews with Sheffield Council on maintaining the snooker at the crucible
“He could be the greatest of all time with his talent and his abilities,” said O’Sullivan in 2022. “I see him as a Federer Roger with a signal in hand.”
Meanwhile, the honorary president of the World Snooker Tour Barry Hearn had interviews with the municipal council of Sheffield Thursday about the future of the Creuset, including the reception contract for the world championship expired in 2027.
Hearn wants Sheffield to develop the place of the capacity of 980 or begins to pay snooker fees worldwide so that he can double the winner’s price of £ 500,000 to 1 million pounds sterling – otherwise he could move the tournament elsewhere.
“Show me the money, show me the way to follow, and I hope that we can sign another 10-year agreement in the crucible,” said Hearn.
