Watch Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘lose the plot’ and forfeit frame with wild ‘200mph’ shot after warning from referee
FRUSTRATED Ronnie O’Sullivan was accused of “losing the plot” after forfeiting a frame with an ill-tempered 200mph snooker shot.
The Rocket – considered the GOAT of the sport – met a pony on his morning run on Tuesday but then made an ASS of frame six of his Welsh Open second-round tie.
The reigning world champion was leading 3-2 and then 16-0 up when he was put into a snookered position by Scottish cueist Ross Muir.
The cue ball was covered by the green and brown but O’Sullivan, 47, missed the pack of reds with his first and second shots off two cushions and referee Luise Kraatz twice called for a foul and a miss.
Kraatz felt the seven-time world champion was deliberately playing foul shots and she said: “Ronnie, I have to warn you, if I call a miss again, you will lose the frame, you can hit this…”
In a moment of petulance and irritation, O’Sullivan played his third shot with brute force and the cue ball struck the pink first – which was a foul – and then FLEW off the table.
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It meant he lost the frame due to the three-strike miss rule but O’Sullivan laughed the incident off, saying: “I had no shot, I had to play the perfect shot, so I went for the fluke.
“I was snookered virtually on every ball. If I get the fluke, then great. But I hit the pink. And the white flew off the table. That was it, game over.
“Maybe instead of hitting it at 200mph, I should have did it at 170mph!”
In the end, O’Sullivan regained his composure to win the final frame to move 4-3 into the third round of the tournament in Llandudno, North Wales.
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Jimmy White, the six-time world championship finalist, said: “That was a bit of frustration. It is something he tries not to do these days – self-sabotage. He lost the plot there a bit. It cost him the frame. But he regained his thoughts.
“For O’Sullivan fans, it’s a sign that he is trying to win. He will regroup and come again.”
Four-time Welsh Open winner O’Sullivan – who now plays Matthew Stevens or Rod Lawler – saw the tip of his cue come off TWICE in the opening two frames.
The first time was after he hit the final pink in an opening 108 break and then it recurred in frame two when he hit a routine red to a middle pocket.
O’Sullivan, who rubbed his cue with SANDPAPER, said: “Unbelievable. The tip keeps falling off. I play the shot and think it will fall off. It’s hard.
“I said to one guy afterwards, if it had come off one more time, I’ve had to pull out.
“I cannot keep changing my tip five or six shots. It’s not fair on your opponent or the crowd. It has never happened to me before.
“I’m pleased I put it to the back of my mind and was able to play. It’s not all about talent – it’s about resilience and mindset.”
Welshman Dominic Dale went from red-faced on Monday afternoon when O’Sullivan slammed his ginger hair on live TV to red hot as he crushed No.4 seed Neil Robertson 4-0 in one of his best performances for years.