Snooker history was made last night when the sport attracted its biggest ever crowd to witness Ronnie O’Sullivan storm to a 5-0 victory over Ng On Yee in the vast Hong Kong Coliseum.
More than 5,000 spectators watched O’Sullivan progress in just 52 minutes at the Hong Kong Masters, surpassing the previous record of 3,000 set at the same tournament in 2017. Attendances in the UK have never exceeded 2,500. The Crucible in Sheffield, home of the World Snooker Championship, can seat just 980 spectators.
“It was nice,” said O’Sullivan of playing in front of a bumper crowd. “Every event in Asia is fantastic, they support really well. They’re like major events really. It’s nice to play in front of an enthusiastic crowd and it makes you want to play well for them.”
He added: “Playing against top-quality opposition, knowing that you need to be at your best, motivates you to want to do well. These are special events and you want to play in as many of these as you can.”
O’Sullivan will face Neil Robertson in the semi-final after the Australian beat Mark Williams 5-3. Williams made a last-minute dash to the former British province to replace Zhao Xintong following a positive Covid-19 test for the Chinese player.
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