O'Sullivan suffers second successive loss - 27/09/2007

Plymouth Pavilions
Ding Jun-hui 4–2 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Ding's scores first
97-0 (Ding 97), 68-0, 137-0 (Ding 137), 57-67, 0-141 (O'Sullivan 141), 72-21)

A WORLD-CLASS encounter between Ding Jun-hui and Ronnie O’Sullivan ended with a narrow victory for the young Chinese star as both players hit a century break at the Plymouth Pavilions in week four of the 2007 PartyBets.com Premier League Snooker.

Ding (pictured right) opened with an impressive 97 break in the first frame, narrowly missing out on a £1000 ton-up bonus when he lost position on the final red and ended up with the cue ball touching the object ball.

The young Chinese star was dominating the early table time, with O’Sullivan unable to take advantage of any chances that fell his way.

A fluked long red on frame ball clinched the second too, but there was nothing fortuitous about the total clearance of 137 he produced in the next frame to ensure he would at least avoid defeat.

O’Sullivan finally sensed an opening in the fourth, with a neatly crafted run of 37 which ended only when he missed a fine cut on a red near the pink spot.

A break of 36 from Ding brought him back in to contention, and then a further knock of 16 took him ahead again, but O’Sullivan scrambled his way through the colours and stole the frame on the black.

He too was by now fully in stride and a second total clearance of the evening, this time of 141, littered with impressive shots and which was the highest break while playing with a 25-second shot clock, gave him a stab at a draw.

O’Sullivan started confidently in the final frame, but ended his break on 21 as he punched the table in frustration after failing to split the pack.

Ding responded with a run of the same amount and his next visit proved sufficient to seal the win as he produced a break of 38 to climb off the foot of the table and condemn O'Sullivan to back-to-back defeats in the Premier League for the first time.