SNOOKER: Ronnie O'Sullivan claimed on Wednesday that the fun of the game was more important to him than results, but nevertheless he chalked up an 11th straight win last night to reach the semi-finals of the €635,000 Citywest Irish Masters.
O'Sullivan produced a sustained run of heavy scoring to see off Matthew Stevens 6-2, pleasing the Irish crowds in a way he had failed to when losing to Stevens by the same score in his opening match last year.
The match was tied 2-2 at the interval, with O'Sullivan making a break of 106 in the second frame.
On the resumption, though, the Welshman couldn't keep pace with his 27-year-old Essex opponent, who fired in breaks of 81, 66 and 64 during a spell in which Stevens amassed just nine points.
O'Sullivan won the next frame on the pink to round off the match, then made another attempt to address the controversy which has blown up this week as a result of comments in his autobiography about Mark Williams.
"I would have looked forward to the prospect of playing Mark," said the world number one. "It would have been another challenge for me. It's been a tough week with a lot of stuff that's come out in the press.
"I feel I have been misinterpreted and the things from my book blown out proportion. If you read what I put in I was quite complimentary to Mark.
"But he clearly doesn't like me. The things he said actually confirmed what I thought he thought of me."
O'Sullivan is now just two wins away from becoming only the ninth player to win back-to-back ranking events. For Stevens, the wait goes on for his first ranking title.
"Matthew is such a great player and his time will come," said the Essex star on a more charitable note. "I hope he does win one because he's good for the game and a lovely fellow."
The prospect of the rowing pair meeting in Saturday's semi-finals was averted by Williams' 6-1 defeat against Paul Hunter of England.
Hunter had a break of 64 in the first frame, and raced into a 3-0 lead as Williams struggled to find any rhythm.
The Welshman responded with a run of 83, but returned to his earlier ragged self after the interval as Hunter put together breaks of 45, 47 and 72 to reach the last four.
"Mark didn't play so well, and missed a lot of balls you wouldn't expect him to," explained the 24-year-old Yorkshireman. "But you've still got to pot them yourself, and you can lose concentration a bit if it gets too easy."
Hunter will now play O'Sullivan in the last four tomorrow, with the latter now just two matches away from winning back-to-back world ranking events for the first time.
If he should triumph here on Sunday night, it would also greatly improve his chances of holding off Williams to retain the world number one spot at the end of the season.
QUARTER-FINALS: P Hunter (Eng-9) bt M Williams (Wal-3) 6-1 (81-10, 67-2, 61-1, 14-91, 66-29, 74-0, 102-4); R O'Sullivan (Eng-2) bt M Stevens (Wal-8) 6-2 (29-71, 111-7, 1-73, 63-18, 81-0, 96-1, 115-8, 62-52). TODAY'S PLAY: Quarter-finals: 2 p.m., Q Hann (Aus) v D Harold (Eng); 7 p.m., S Davis (Eng) v J Higgins (Sco-4).
