Ding Junhui made a magnificent Masters maximum but it was Ronnie O’Sullivan who roared into the quarter-finals with a 6-3 victory at Alexandra Palace.
Ding registered a seventh career 147 in the seventh frame of their first-round clash.
The 36-year-old overcame a tricky yellow and a pink with the rest, which wobbled in the pocket before it dropped, to record only the fourth maximum at the prestigious tournament – and his second after achieving the feat as a teenager in 2007.
Kirk Stevens, in 1984, and Marco Fu nine years ago are the only other players to manage Masters 147s.
Ding trailed O’Sullivan 4-0 at the mid-session interval but the seven-time world champion missed a simple red to finally let him in. The Chinese star immediately pulled two frames back before his magic moment left him trailing by one at 4-3.
However, O’Sullivan, bidding for an eighth Masters title, hit straight back with a break of 127, and two visits to the table later he had wrapped up victory.
“It was an unbelievable 147 from Ding,” O’Sullivan told the BBC after the match. “I knew from the second or third red that he was going to make it. His positional play is so good and he wasn’t out of position once. What a magnificent player.”
Ding Junhui made a magnificent 147— (Getty Images)
On his rapid response to the maximum, he added in typical O’Sullivan style: “Listen, I just tried. My cueing is not great. I was just trying to manufacture stuff out there. But I tried, there’s nothing else you can do really, is there?”
Ding was not at the races before the interval and surprised himself with his milestone break.
“I had a lot of chances at the start but just messed up,” he said. “I didn’t think I would play that well when we came back so to make a maximum was amazing. I saw the balls open and thought I could try a maximum because Ronnie was playing so well.”
