Ronnie O’Sullivan’s mid-match change of tip backfired spectacularly as he was whitewashed by Zhao Xintong in the second session of their World Snooker Championship semi-final.
O’Sullivan had the tip and ferrule on his cue changed overnight, having labelled it as “awful” before the last-four clash with Zhao at the Crucible. The seven-time champion had still emerged from the first session level at 4-4, but incredibly lost all eight frames on Friday morning as Zhao ruthlessly punished every missed pot and poor safety to move 12-4 ahead.
The 28-year-old left-hander now needs just five more frames to book his place in the final against either Judd Trump or Mark Williams after inflicting only the fourth session whitewash of his career on a shellshocked O’Sullivan. Zhao made breaks of 57 (twice), 112 and 82 to establish an 8-4 lead, with O’Sullivan scoring just 50 points in those four frames and recording a highest break of 23.
There was no respite for O’Sullivan after the mid-session interval as Zhao made breaks of 67 and 115 to extend his lead, with O’Sullivan then missing a yellow off the spot in the next frame to allow his opponent back to the table. Zhao needed two opportunities to take the frame and also took the last of the session with a break of 87 after O’Sullivan had inexplicably missed a simple blue to the middle pocket.
The former UK Championship winner John Virgo, commentating for the BBC, was full of praise for Zhao’s performance. “Scintillating snooker,” he said. “What a player. What a future he’s got in the game. To do this to Ronnie O’Sullivan, it’s a phenomenal performance. Changing of the guard maybe, right here, right now.”