Ronnie O’Sullivan shines in whitewash win over local icon Ng On-yee at Hong Kong Masters 2022

Ronnie O’Sullivan cruised into the semi-finals at the Hong Kong Masters with a 5-0 victory over home icon Ng On-yee.

Ng started well with a fantastic long-range red but broke down on 46, and with a break of 72, O’Sullivan took the first frame.

O’Sullivan doubled his lead in an emphatic fashion, his scoring power typically impressive as he landed the 1173rd century of his professional career.

Despite being 2-0 down, Ng was visibly enjoying the home crowd’s encouragement, but she was only able to offer up one point at the start of the third frame, with the black ball staying up, giving O’Sullivan the opportunity to go to the table again. With a break of 59, Ng decided that she had seen enough, conceded and opted to move on to the fourth frame.

World No. 1 O’Sullivan was sinking balls for fun and took the final frame before the break with ease.

Ng was amongst the balls upon the resumption in the fifth frame after O’Sullivan inadvertently screwed the cue ball into the middle pocket after sinking a long red. She again managed a great long-range red, similar to the one she sunk in the first frame but broke down, missing a middle pocket red. O’Sullivan stepped in, and with the Rocket crafting a magnificent 95 knock, he claimed victory, booking a semi-final meeting with Neil Robertson.

Ng will rue her missed chances in the first frame to put the defending world champion on the back foot, but from that point on her opponent was simply too good.

“It’s unbelievable,” O’Sullivan said after the match. “A fantastic crowd.

“We love coming to Asia, the fans are always excited to see us play and cheer on a lot of the shots that we pot and it makes us want to play well because the crowd respond so well. It’s fantastic to be here. It’s a huge venue, it’s just great to be here.

“I never really have expectations because everybody is a good player. If you have an off day and the other guy plays well, you’re packing your bags and going home.

“So you always have to play well to expect to win, but that’s not always the case. I’ve won a lot of tournaments not playing well and won, but you want to play your [on] best form, especially in front of a great crowd like this. I’m just enjoying my snooker.

“We love coming to Asia, love coming to Hong Kong. The fans are just so happy to see you. We would like to play more in Hong Kong and Asia – it’s the best fans, the best tournaments, so [it’s] just lovely to be here. Thank you for your hospitality, and see you tomorrow.”

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