Ronnie O’Sullivan had something of a senior moment as he booked his spot in the World Seniors Snooker Championship final, forgetting who he had just beaten in the semi.
The Rocket is making his first appearance in the tournament and will play Joe Perry in Sunday’s final at the Crucible.
The seven-time world champion was odds-on favourite to win the title before a ball was struck, but has been tested on his run to the final.
O’Sullivan beat Peter Lines 4-2 in the quarter-finals and scrapped to a 7-5 victory over Rob Milkins in Saturday afternoon’s semi.
After battling through in difficult playing conditions, the 12 hard fought frames had scrambled the Rocket’s mind so much that he forgot who he had just played.
‘Conditions were really tough,’ O’Sullivan said on Channel 5. ‘None of the players were really making excuses and we’re not making excuses.
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‘I thought me and…er…Milkins. My brain’s gone! I thought we were cueing well, we were cueing alright, but it is just sometimes you can fall out of position and keep chasing the balls.
‘It is hard, especially under pressure in front of a big crowd. So I think we’ve done really well considering the conditions.
‘I’m messing about with different types of cue actions so it was a good experience to play under pressure, try and lose it and get it back. It is all new for me, so I’m enjoying that process.’
Conditions have been an issue over the tournament, with Milkins saying the table in his first round win over Jimmy White was ‘unplayable’ and the other table on Thursday night having such an issue with a slate that it could no longer be used.
Dominic Dale vs Matthew Stevens was halted mid-match due to the broken table, with defending champion Alfie Burden’s game against Igor Figueiredo then played in the practice room in embarrassing scenes.
‘To say I’m disappointed would be a huge understatement, don’t remember feeling this low after a snooker event,’ Burden posted on social media after losing 4-0 to the Brazilian.
‘I wasn’t in the mental state of mind to play that match in a practice room to be honest I was in a state of shock at what was unfolding. Literally heartbroken.’
He added: ‘Can I make it perfectly clear I wasn’t given an option to play my match in the morning, i asked could I play the next morning was flatly refused was told I had to play in the cupboard.
‘Dale Stevens was given a choice , I wasn’t and I should have refused to play.’
O’Sullivan may have struggled to recall his opponent, but Milkins knew who he had faced, admitting that the Rocket ‘scares the hell’ out of him on the table.
‘I’m not quite sharp, my match sharpness. I’ve disrespected the game for too long,’ said the Milkman. ‘I was struggling to get back into it. There are signs of playing well, but I just missed too many easy balls.
‘Ronnie scares the hell out of me always. I respect Ron. No other player does that to me. It is bad enough playing him when you are playing well. But when you are struggling, you’ve got no chance.’
Perry also won his semi-final 7-5, beating Craig Steadman as he knocked in a high break of 102 in the final frame of the contest.
The match is a repeat of the 2017 Masters final, which the Rocket won 10-7 at Alexandra Palace after the Gentleman took an early 4-1 lead.
Like many over the years, Perry has found it very difficult against O’Sullivan, with their head-to-head in all professional competitions standing at 18-2 in the Rocket’s favour.
However, Perry did pick up a memorable win over O’Sullivan, knocking him out of the 2008 UK Championship at the last 16 stage.
The final is played over a best-of-19 frames at 12.30pm and 7pm on Sunday, with the winner claiming £30,000.