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That\u2019s tidy from O\u2019Sullivan, trapping Anthony McGill in behind the yellow. McGill, carbon fibre cue in hand, comes into the bunch off one cushion with a bit of side, judging the pace perfectly. O\u2019Sullivan knocks back up to baulk.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Sullivan will break – left-handed, and a decent cue ball in behind the green. There\u2019s a red to the corner if McGill fancies testing his range early….off two cushions and away. Close but no cigar, but the Scot ensures he gets the white up against the baulk cushion.<\/p>\n
And here come the two protagonists in our featured match, Anthony McGill <\/strong>out with a wave. Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan <\/strong>gets a roar, scratching his head as he descends the steps down to the playing area. <\/p>\n It\u2019s time for action at the Barbican, Rob Walker giving the player introductions his customary gusto. It\u2019s a tasty line-up across the two tables: Joe O\u2019Connor <\/strong>is first out, a rising star who reached the Scottish Open final last season and will be hoping to build more success this campaign. His opponent is John Higgins, <\/strong>still playing mightily solid snooker at the age of 48. <\/p>\n 30 years ago today, incidentally, a 17-year-old Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan became the youngest ever winner of the UK Championship. There\u2019s every chance he adds to his record tally of seven crowns come Sunday evening, too. <\/p>\n These two have already played once this season, with Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan taking a 6-2 victory in a strong performance at the International Championship earlier in November. Anthony McGill will have fond memories of that captivating 13-12 win at the Crucible a couple of years ago, though – that remains the Scot\u2018s only win over the seven-time world champion.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a clip of the Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan documentary, posted by Amazon Prime. O\u2019Sullivan will be heading out on to the baize at the York Barbican to take on Anthony McGill shortly.<\/p>\n World champion Luca Brecel insists splashing the cash has helped restore his hunger for more snooker success after he kicked off his UK Championship campaign with a gruelling 6-4 victory over Yuan Sijun in York.<\/p>\n The Belgian celebrated his shock Crucible success six months ago by spending half his winnings on a \u00a3250,000 Ferrari and revealed he drained his bank balance further this week by adding a Range Rover and a Porsche Taycan to his growing garage.<\/p>\n \u201cI bought two more cars this week so I went from a millionaire to a non-millionaire,\u201d said Brecel. \u201cIt was a conscious decision to buy the cars and maybe feel that bit of pressure again, to recreate the feeling I had of just starting my career.\u201d<\/p>\n Brecel, who will replenish his ailing balance by a Ferrari-sized \u00a3250,000 if he goes on to claim his first UK title next Sunday, said he struggled in the aftermath of his epic triumph over Mark Selby, having achieved a dream that drove him since he first picked up a cue at the age of nine.<\/p>\n The world champion beat Yuan Sijun in his opening match at the UK Championship.<\/p>\n Judd Trump revealed how his unquenchable desire for success helped lift him off his sick bed and into the second round of the UK Championship in York with a convincing 6-1 win over Pang Junxu.<\/p>\n The 34-year-old is the latest top star to arrive at the tournament suffering the apparent effects of flu, after Ding Junhui considered withdrawal before edging defending champion Mark Allen on the opening day. But Trump, who became only the fifth player in history to win three back-to-back ranking tournaments last month, indicated that pulling out was not an option as he targets a title that has eluded him since a solitary success in 2011.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t feel great, but I\u2019m always going to turn up and give it my best,\u201d said Trump, who fears he caught the bug after attending rival Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s documentary premiere in London last week.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a big tournament and you obviously want to do well in it. Maybe I had slightly lower expectations, and maybe that helped a bit. It was a decent first-round performance and hopefully I can go away and get a bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n The 34-year-old is the latest top star to arrive at the tournament suffering the apparent effects of flu.<\/p>\n There is a scene in The Edge of Everything,<\/em> the new documentary about Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan, that provides as sharp an analysis as you will ever see of the pressures of top-level sport. It is from footage taken in his dressing room during the final of the 2022 World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.<\/p>\n At 46, O\u2019Sullivan is poised to become the oldest winner of the title in history. But as he takes a break in the scrabble to overcome his opponent Judd Trump, he is behaving less like a seasoned veteran and more like a panicked teenager, stomping around the room in total dismay, close to tears in his frustration.<\/p>\n \u201cFuck me Steve,\u201d he tells his resident psychiatrist coach Dr Steve Peters. \u201cI\u2019m bashed up here mate. What do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n The gap between O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s apparently serene progress to gaining his record-breaking seventh world title and what was going on in his head at the time is what makes him such a fascinating character. Even better, such is his garrulous lack of worldly concern, he has long been more than happy to let us, his army of admirers, get a glimpse of what is happening beneath the bonnet. For much of his extraordinary career dominating and defining his sport, it is almost as if, for this complicated, troubled, challenged individual, we are part of the process of therapy. That he needs to share the burden in order to stay one step ahead.<\/p>\n The seven-time snooker world champion has dominated and defined his sport, writes Jim White. But his Amazon Prime documentary shows he has no time for the PR game so successfully played by the likes of David Beckham and Michael Jordan <\/p>\nRonnie O\u2019Sullivan vs Anthony McGill<\/h3>\n
Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan vs Anthony McGill<\/h3>\n
Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan vs Anthony McGill<\/h3>\n
WATCH: Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan discusses his mental health in documentary<\/h3>\n
Luca Brecel makes winning start in York after spending spree renews title hunger<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nLuca Brecel makes winning start in York after spending spree renews title hunger<\/h3>\n
Judd Trump climbs off sick bed to beat Pang Junxu at UK Championship<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nJudd Trump climbs off sick bed to beat Pang Junxu at UK Championship<\/h3>\n
JIM WHITE: Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan is our greatest sportsman \u2013 and the most devastatingly honest<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nIn a world of PR sports documentaries, Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan proves he is the real thing<\/h3>\n