Rocket rattles Robertson

O'Sullivan: Stirring comeback

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Ronnie O'Sullivan came blazing back from 3-0 down to beat Neil Robertson 6-4 in a Masters classic at Wembley Arena.

Both men hit two centuries in a high-qualify contest as four-time Masters champion O'Sullivan rallied in front of his vociferous home crowd at Wembley to book a quarter-final date with Peter Ebdon.

The Australian left hander stormed into the lead and looked in great touch but O'Sullivan crucially won the final frame before the break to go in only 3-1 in arrears.

O'Sullivan emerged a different player after the break and he drew level as Robertson looked rattled by both his comeback and the boisterous crowd who raised the volume up a further notch as hometown hero O'Sullivan went 4-3 ahead.

Robertson showed he is made of stern stuff though as he fired in a 140 total clearance to level again, but O'Sullivan just had the edge and a 106 break restored his lead before a 76 won it for him in the tenth.

Robertson looked fired up from the very start of the match as he hit a century before coming from behind to take the third frame courtesy of a snooker, which had the Aussie punching the air as he clinched the frame.

It took a lot to stop the Robertson juggernaut, and that came in the form of a clinical 114 break from O'Sullivan, which crucially got him on the board before the mid-session interval.

After a short break came the O'Sullivan onslaught, with a 57 giving him the fifth frame and an 87 levelling the match as 3-3 before a rattled Robertson started to feel the pressure from the London crowd.

The 27-year-old made a couple of bad errors, including in the seventh frame when he allowed O'Sullivan to clean up the colours to take the lead for the first time in the match, but he bounced back superbly with his 140 clearance levelling once more.

It was not to be though as O'Sullivan responded in kind with his second century and then following a safety exchange his frame-clinching 76 also gave him the victory.

Underwhelmed

In typical fashion, however, O'Sullivan appeared thoroughly underwhelmed by his performance.

"I scored a few and applied a bit of pressure," he told www.worldsnooker.com. "I'd give my long potting two out of 10. It's hard to get excited.

"To make two or three centuries in a match is not a big deal, that's how the modern game is. I would have accepted winning or losing today.

"I'm not the player I was when I was 15 or 16. A lot of the time I'm playing sub-standard shots. Now and then I catch hold of one and play a killer shot.

"The only time I play a pure shot is left-handed. The last time I played a good tournament was the (2003) European Open in Torquay and the Irish Masters a couple of weeks later.

"I don't want to have to rely on the occasion of being 3-0 down in front of a big crowd to salvage some pride. I can't pot a ball in practice. My attitude will be the same in my next match - I won't be surprised if I win or lose."

He was later joined in the last eight by Mark Williams, who overcame whiplash sustained in a car accident on Monday night to beat Ali Carter 6-3.

Williams took the opening frame with a break of 98, before a missed long pot when 26-0 down in the second allowed Carter back in - a break of 99 levelling the match.

Carter, the world number five, took the next to go 2-1 up before Williams levelled with a break of 102 - the Welshman getting things underway with a well-taken long yellow under pressure.

Williams then took a scrappy fifth before a 98 from Carter brought him level at 3-3. However, the latter's challenge then wilted, allowing the two-time World Champion to ease to victory.