O’Sullivan Survives Hawkins’ Brave Challenge
Ronnie O'Sullivan came through a nail-biting finish against Barry Hawkins to reach the Northern Ireland Trophy semi-finals and set up a repeat of his Crucible showdown against Ali Carter.
The Rocket flew through the early stages of his match against world No 27 Hawkins at the Belfast Waterfront and looked set for an easy win at 4-1 after breaks of 122, 60 and 110.
But left-hander Hawkins, who had showed his quality with a 126 in frame four, hit back to win the next three with top runs of 54 and 51 to bring the score to 4-4.
And the Kent player looked favourite in the deciding frame as he built a 37-2 lead before missing a tricky mid-range red to a top corner.
O'Sullivan ran in 47 before laying a snooker on the green. When Hawkins missed it, the Essex player dropped in the green and potted a superb long brown to go 23 points ahead. He snookered himself on the blue but managed to escape to ensure victory.
The world No 1 remains on course to win back-to-back ranking events, a feat no player has achieved since he himself took the World and Grand Prix titles in 2004. His next task is to overcome Carter, whom he beat 18-8 at Sheffield in May.
"I had chances to win 5-1 and 5-3 tonight but couldn't put him away," said the 32-year-old. "On the balance of play, Barry deserved to win. He choked a bit at the end. I don't mean that in a bad way, but you have to put those chances away when you get them because otherwise the games bites you back.
"I told him at the end that he should have had that one. He's a tough player and if he wins one tournament he could go on to win a few more.
"I was a bit nervy coming into this tournament as I had a long break in the summer so I'm pleased to have had a decent work out. I've got to beat Ali Carter now and the world final means nothing, it's history."
Carter, who has taken the confidence he gained in reaching that final into the new season, impressed again with a 5-2 defeat of Mark Allen.
Home favourite Allen, from Antrim, took the opening frame before Tiptree's Carter came from 53-0 down to win the second on the pink. He added the next in three scoring visits then made an 84 for 3-1.
Allen made a 58 in the fifth and won it on the black after Carter's clearance faltered on the last ball.
But the Essex player put that behind him by winning the next two scrappy frames to reach the fourth ranking event semi-final of his career.
"I didn't play that well, it was a tough match for both of us," said Carter. "I think my experience showed in the end, I didn't take too many risky shots on.
"The black I missed at the end of the fifth frame was a tricky one, it was similar to the last black in my 147 at the Crucible. I just thought to myself that I'm glad I got the one for the maximum and missed this one rather than the other way around. I put it behind me straight away, which is the difference between the way I am now and how I was before.
"I'm into another semi-final and pushing on bit by bit. I'm happy to have another crack at Ronnie, I wouldn't mind playing him in every tournament as you always learn something from him."
