Ding breaks test limits of O'Sullivan's patience

Ding Jun Hui secured a 5-3 first session lead over Ronnie O'Sullivan to move to within four frames of capturing the season-opening Northern Ireland Trophy at the Waterfront Hall yesterday.

O'Sullivan's 115 helped him to a lead of 3-1 but he failed to pot a ball in the next four frames as the 19-year-old Ding, who won two ranking titles last year, compiled breaks of 71, 58 and 103 in claiming the advantage.

O'Sullivan has never been the most patient of players but a recent excursion across the Atlantic to compete on a new American pool circuit seems to have further diminished his appetite for slow, grinding snooker of the sort Graeme Dott and Peter Ebdon served up in the World Championship final last May.

A more glitzy, entertaining approach, which O'Sullivan exhibited all week in Belfast, is what the twice world champion believes will boost the sport's fortunes, even though television audiences are still healthy.

"I really want to help snooker get back to being a big sport again," he said. "I'm picking up the paper and seeing cricket getting two or three pages and yet our sport is very much on a par with it and we don't get that.

"Snooker needs to change. It's not just a game, it's entertainment. We have to be prepared to take risks and try something different. I'm getting fed up of it just being me and a few other players carrying the mantle and not getting any thanks for it."

In fact, the next ranking event, October's Grand Prix, will be played under a new format in which 48 players will be divided into eight groups of six, playing each other over the best of five frames as opposed to the standard best of nine.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, the game's governing body, and the BBC, the host broadcasters, believe this change will give the tournament an individual identity and boost interest.

Not all players are happy but a new sponsor is expected to be revealed later this week, with a further announcement likely for January's Wembley Masters.