Ronnie O’Sullivan punches table in frustration during World Snooker Championship clash

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s frustrations boiled over during his World Snooker Championship second round clash against John Higgins.

‘The Rocket’ held a comfortable 6-2 lead going into Sunday’s evening session, which soon improved to 8-4.

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However, things quickly became unstuck for O’Sullivan.

After returning from the interval on Sunday, Higgins flipped the script and reduced the deficit to 9-7 in their best-of-25-frames contest.

O’Sullivan’s annoyance at allowing Higgins to close the gap rose to the surface during the final frame of the evening.

Why led to O’Sullivan punching the table?

The seven-time world champion lined up the red for what seemed like a regulation shot, especially for someone of O’Sullivan’s standing.

However, the red cannoned between the edges of the hole and rolled away to safety.

The miss prompted O’Sullivan to bang his right fist onto the table, with the noise reverberating around the Crucible.

O’Sullivan then walked back to his seat and puffed out his cheeks in frustration.

Speaking on commentary for TNT Sports, commentator Dave Hendon felt O’Sullivan’s reaction to the uncharacteristic miss ‘tells you everything’.

‘As angry as you’d ever see O’Sullivan’

Co-commentator and former snooker star Dominic Dale added: “He’s probably annoyed with himself, he probably didn’t focus on the pot properly, had an extraneous thought going through his head at the time he struck the cue ball, which is really annoying when that happens.”

Fellow ex-pro Alan McManus said: “Watch Ronnie’s reaction, really angry.

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“That’s about as angry as you’d ever see O’Sullivan and there’s good reason for it.

“John hasn’t played well. He’s been here before, O’Sullivan against John, and he’ll expect a full-scale comeback.

“That’s why he’s so frustrated.”

The pair will resume their bumper second round contest on Monday afternoon in what has already been a match of high drama.

Given the superstar status of O’Sullivan and Higgins, snooker fans had circled their clash as a must-watch at the Crucible.

But some evidently forgot where they were, as two patrons were reprimanded by the match referee for improper use of their phones.

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For O’Sullivan, defeat to Higgins would mark his earliest World Snooker Championship exit since 2021, when he was sent packing in the second round.

In the following years, ‘The Rocket’ secured two quarter-final berths, a semi-final appearance in 2025 and his seventh world title in 2022.

The winner of O’Sullivan and Higgins will play either Neil Robertson or Chris Wakelin for a place in the semi-finals.