Hong Kong Masters: biggest ever crowd turn up volume for Ronnie O’Sullivan, after Mark Williams struggles to stay awake
- Local favourite Ng On-yee beaten but supreme O’Sullivan puts on a show for the Hong Kong Coliseum
- Williams ‘just trying to keep eyes open’ as he tests Neil Robertson within hours of landing as Zhao Xintong’s Covid stand-in
O’Sullivan had begun the week tentatively trying beginner-level Cantonese at Ng’s direction in their hotel, but was far more assertive as he gave a snooker demonstration for the Hong Kong Coliseum to progress to a semi-final with Neil Robertson.
The women’s world No 2 threatened to run away with the first frame when O’Sullivan potted the white from his break-off. It was an insect on the table, rather than “the Rocket”, that broke her focus, a missed red offering O’Sullivan a way in. He fluffed a pink, but barely missed again all night.
When Ng rattled a red in the jaws with the pack split in the third frame, the game was up, and it was 5-0 to O’Sullivan in the blink of an eye. Ng had, however, been the first to raise the decibels in the vast arena, which no longer looked outsized.
“It was touching, very emotional,” she said. “When you know so many are coming to support you, it’s a motivation.”
