By elliott west
With one semi-final played yesterday, it was time today to decide who would join Shaun Murphy in tomorrow’s final. The pitch between Neil Robertson and Ronnie O’Sullivan looked like being a classic match and whenever someone plays Ronnie drama is never far behind. What started out as a close match with the first two frames being taken by each player, soon turned into a Ronnie master class. Neil clearly could have won this match, having at one point, a 5-1 lead over O’Sullivan. However disaster struck for Robertson when he chipped his cue tip.
For a player, this probably the biggest nightmare and Neil had to make an agonising decision in a hurried fifteen recess whether to attempt to replace his tip or play on. Perhaps his decision to play on was unwise as despite knocking in a century break after the recess, Robertson’s game started to nosedive. Ronnie won five of the next seven frames with two centuries and five half centuries. Ronnie is certainly on fire in Shanghai. This is Ronnie’s third consecutive final in this tournament and he has won the last two. If he wins here tomorrow, it will be a hat trick. Perhaps this is what spurs Ronnie on to relieve his mental anguish on and off the table. Smashing another record makes the snooker pill slightly easier to swallow for him.
Ronnie’s 10-6 victory over Neil Robertson shows once again that O’Sullivan can nip in and out of the game and still blast his opponents back to the airport. His opponent in tomorrow’s final, Shaun Murphy will have a lot to think about before the final. If he goes into it as he has previously with a relaxed attitude, he could and probably will face the same fate as Robertson with a defeat. He will have to take his chances in this match and frame build or it will end in disaster. Shaun is definitely a great player and has proved that on numerous occasions, a triple crown winner who has won many other tournaments additionally. He has to set the bar high and stop O’Sullivan in his tracks. A feat that he is more than capable of achieving in Shanghai.
