BARNSLEY, England (AP) — Five-time world snooker champion Ronnie O’Sullivan was about to complete a victory in the English Open when a woman evaded security and began running around the table. O’Sullivan, who had already won the frame, stayed composed
BARNSLEY, England (AP) — Five-time world snooker champion Ronnie O’Sullivan was about to complete a victory in the English Open when a woman evaded security and began running around the table.
O’Sullivan, who had already won the frame, stayed composed to sink the pink and was one ball away from a total clearance of 136 points. But rather than pot the black himself he handed his cue to the giddy fan, who was dressed in blue jeans and a grey top and carrying an orange handbag.
“I saved her from getting a rugby tackle,” O’Sullivan said.
And O’Sullivan moved into the fourth round by beating Chinese player Zhang Yong 4-1 at the Barnsley Metrodome in northern England on Thursday.
“I didn’t know what to do at first and she just said, ‘I’m just having a jog, I’m just going for a jog,'” O’Sullivan told Eurosport television. “And I was like, ‘Go on then, carry on then, there’s your jog, have a shot as well while you’re at it.’
“I thought she was going to pot it. I really wanted her to pot it. I thought when the (security) guys came out they were going to rugby tackle her, but I thought, ‘If you do that, you might kill her.'”
The fan failed to pot the black on two attempts.
