Ronnie O'Sullivan produces epic comeback to keep Saudi Masters title dream alive

An out-of-sorts O’Sullivan looked to be heading out of the £2.3 million world ranking event at 5-2 down before conjuring up a memorable four-frame winning streak to keep his title hopes alive in Jeddah.

His first outing in a ranking tournament this season, O’Sullivan started his latest Saudi Masters campaign on Tuesday in the round of 32 where he impressively whitewashed an in-form Joe O’Connor 5-0 to get going.

O’Sullivan’s last 16 assignment would be against 23-year-old Chang Bingyu, a player that ‘The Rocket’ talked up several years ago as one of the professional circuit’s most exciting up-and-coming talents.

Chang - who has returned to the World Snooker Tour this season following the expiration of his ban and subsequent requalification for the sport’s top flight - had already won five matches to get to this stage; the only player left in the field who had survived the gauntlet from the opening round last Friday.

In round four, Chang ousted former world number one Mark Allen 5-4 - his fourth deciding frame win of the tournament.

An 84 break from O'Sullivan squared the match at 1-1 after Chang had taken the opener, but the Asian cueist then registered runs of 68, 80 and 64 as he deposited the next three frames to take control at 4-1 up.

Seven-time world champion O'Sullivan fashioned an 85 in frame six to keep in touch, but Chang reached the hill first at 5-2 up with the help of a 66.

With his back firmly pressed against the wall and needing to win all four remaining frames, O'Sullivan launched his recovery in style with a century break of 103.

The world number five then reduced the gap further with frame nine for 5-4, but it looked like Chang was going to get the job done whilst on an effort of 53 in frame ten.

However, the youngster missed a red, and O'Sullivan cleared the table with a 40 clearance which featured a potential 'shot of the tournament' winner when he potted a 'do-or-die' pink with the cueball near a side cushion whilst getting position on the final red.

In the deciding frame, O'Sullivan sank a long red from distance, potted green, but then missed a relatively simple red into a corner pocket.

He was fortunate to hide the red by the black, but Chang went cushion first to pot it, although he did not obtain suitable position on a colour.

Chang played safe, but it wasn't good enough as O'Sullivan potted another long red followed by a ridiculously good black along the top cushion before going on to construct a break of 125 to complete the win in signature fashion.

Next up for O'Sullivan, in the quarter-finals on Thursday evening, is world number two Kyren Wilson.

Possibly the best player in the world right now, newly-minted Shanghai Masters champion Wilson registered runs of 70, 70, 67, 77 and 73 in a 6-3 victory over Si Jiahui.

Wilson and O'Sullivan met in the last eight in Shanghai only a couple of weeks ago; the former came out on top by six frames to three.

In fact - if you also include the short-formatted Championship League - Wilson has got the better of O'Sullivan in each of their last six meetings on the tour.

Please visit our 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters tournament information centre here for the draw, results and other details on the event.