Dramatic scenes as Ronnie O'Sullivan sunk by Jack Lisowski's outrageous fluke in scintillating International Championship clash
Updated 04/11/2025 at 16:43 GMT
Jack Lisowski and Ronnie O'Sullivan played out perhaps the most enthralling match of the International Championship so far on Tuesday, with Lisowski pipping the seven-time world champion in a black-ball decider to win 6-5. It was a box-office tie in Nanjing, and one that saw Lisowski profit from a huge slice of luck with a fluked red helping him take control of the eighth frame.
Watch as Lisowski gets huge slice of luck against O’Sullivan
Video credit: TNT Sports
A major slice of fortune helped Jack Lisowski on his way to beating Ronnie O'Sullivan in an International Championship epic on Tuesday.
Lisowski, fresh off winning the first ranking event of his career at the Northern Ireland Open, garnered his ninth consecutive win by pipping seven-time world champion O'Sullivan 6-5 in Nanjing - an enthralling match which was decided by the final black.
Lisowski and O'Sullivan were largely trading blow for blow at 2-2, as The Rocket sank the first century break of the match (103) to level.
Subsequent breaks of 113 and 88 helped Lisowski to establish a two-frame cushion, which was then cut back by an O'Sullivan 87.
Looking to get himself back level with a 17-0 lead in the eighth frame, the 49-year-old was on the receiving end of a hammer blow of a fluke, one which saw him surrender all control in the composition of the table.
With the cue ball just left of centre, not far removed from the baulk cushion, Lisowski - with his confidence high and long-potting game on point - tried his luck with a red to the right middle pocket.
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Watch: Incredible deciding-frame drama as Lisowski beats O’Sullivan on final black
Video credit: TNT Sports
It did not quite work out, as he cut it a little too thin and sent it pinging off the near jaw.
But in a hugely fortuitous turn of events, Lisowski was not punished.
The black ball, sitting further down the table, to the right and far separated from the rest of the pack, came to Lisowski's rescue as the red took a kiss off the side and sailed seamlessly into the bottom right pocket.
"Oh dear me!" TNT Sports commentator Phil Studd remarked. "That was some fluke.
"Missed the red by quite a margin, then in off the black."
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It was to be just a break of one for Lisowski, who was not left in any sort of position to attack a colour. Co-commentator Steven Hallworth even quipped he might feel "unlucky" to not have found position on a colour - a typical "snooker player mindset".
It did, however, allow Lisowski to take complete control of the frame, sending the cue ball back up to baulk off the green, and it was not long before the fruits of his fortune began to come to the fore.
"It wasn't necessarily just the one point, that made no difference really," Hallworth said. "It just allowed Jack to gain control of the table."
A frame-winning break of 63 ensured he would go within a frame of victory, and despite O'Sullivan's rally, as he took the match to 5-5, Lisowski held his nerve in the black-ball decider to advance to the last 16, where he will face Barry Hawkins.
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‘I was all over the place’ – Lisowski reacts after dramatic first win against O’Sullivan
Video credit: TNT Sports
"I feel really tired now, it wore me out," Lisowski said after the match. "Just sort of collapsed over the line.
"I got lucky when it mattered at the end a few times. I was doing alright until 5-3 up. I just started thinking I might beat Ronnie here, it’s such a big deal, I watched him since I was a child.
"We’ve had some games but I’ve never got close to him. I had all those things going through my mind, completely lost my concentration, cueing went, I was all over the place.
"But what can I say, I’ve got momentum, a bit of luck at the right time, and somehow managed to win."
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