Thu. Sep 19th, 2024
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Dechawat Poomjaeng
Dechawat Poomjaeng regained professional status after a five-year break in August

World number one Ronnie O’Sullivan compared Thai opponent Dechawat Poomjaeng to Mr Bean after coming back from two frames down to reach the last 32 of the English Open.

The seven-time world champion won the match 4-2.

O’Sullivan said he was amused by Poomjaeng’s “funny faces and his mannerisms” as he compared him to Rowan Atkinson’s character.

“He should go into comedy, he’d be a great character,” O’Sullivan said.

Speaking to wst.tv, the Englishman, 47, added: “He’s like a Mr Bean type character.

“I was enjoying just going for my shots and trying to make something happen.”

Poomjaeng, 44, is the lowest-ranked player in the world at number 130 and has returned to the tour after a five-year absence.

O’Sullivan, who made a break of 104 in the penultimate frame, added: “I thought there was no point just trying to play straightforward snooker, let’s just have a laugh.

“I went for some doubles and trebles, some of them went in, crazy things can happen when you go for it.”

The fightback came after O’Sullivan suffered a scare in the first round of the tournament as 18-year-old Belgian Ben Mertens came back from a three-frame deficit to send the match to a decider.

O’Sullivan will play Martin Gould in the next round on Thursday.

In the pick of Wednesday’s last-32 matches, Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen produced another stunning comeback to once again get the better of Ding Junhui.

Allen, who battled back from 6-1 down to defeat Ding 10-7 in last month’s UK Championship final, recovered from 3-1 behind on this occasion, securing the final three frames with breaks of 86, 94 and 113.

Last year’s runner-up John Higgins pulled off a similar comeback in his 4-3 victory over Robert Milkins, while 2020 champion Judd Trump opened with a knock of 118 as he eased past Fraser Patrick 4-0, and Mark Selby overcame Wu Yize 4-1.

Australia’s defending champion Neil Robertson beat Elliot Slessor 4-0 but world number seven Kyren Wilson lost 4-1 to Welshman Jamie Jones.

Elsewhere in the last-64 matches, Jack Lisowski, Barry Hawkins, Shaun Murphy and Luca Brecel were among those to join O’Sullivan in progressing.

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