Ronnie O’Sullivan described Jackson Page as a “fantastic talent who will win tournaments” after beating the young Welshman 4-1 in the second round of the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
Local favourite O’Sullivan, competing in a ranking event for the first time this season, is through to the last 32 and will meet Si Jiahui or Fergal O’Brien on Thursday. Tickets for Thursday and Friday at the Brentwood Centre are still available – for details click here.
Shanghai Masters champion O’Sullivan looked sharp as he fired breaks of 105, 109 and 122. “I worked hard at my game yesterday, I played for four hours,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport. “Rather than practising two hours every day, I am going to play twice a week for a bit longer and then take days off. I am trying to find some consistency, trying to find the Mark Williams secret, whatever that is.”
Page, 22, first turned pro in 2019 and has made steady progress since, climbing to 51 in the world. He made a break of 109 in the second frame today and did enough to draw praise from his illustrious opponent.
“He’s a brilliant player, he reminds me of Luca Brecel,” said O’Sullivan. “He has great cue power and a good snooker brain, he’s a fantastic talent and great for the game. He will win tournaments for sure. He just has to wait for some of the top players to dip. You have Robertson, Selby, Trump, Ding, Higgins, Williams and others – it’s hard to break through. How do you get in among them and win titles? They have experience while he is learning on the job.
“He’s in that bracket in his early 20s and he will have his time. He’s much better than he was four or five years ago, when his bridge arm was too long. Like Luca, he’s had to learn how to be more compact and get more consistency.”
Cazoo British Open champion Mark Williams won his tenth consecutive match by coming from 3-1 down to edge out Xiao Guodong 4-3. The Welshman made a 123 in the opening frame then lost three in a row, before hitting back with 65, 123 and 73 to take the last three.
China’s Liu Hongyu continued to impress during his debut season as he beat Joe O’Connor 4-1. Pakistan’s top player Muhammad Asif came from 3-2 down to beat Fan Zhengyi 4-3, making a 91 in frame six and taking the decider by potting blue, pink and black.
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