Fu finds middle ground to earn draw

There's always been a sense of unpredictability about watching Marco Fu.

You never know whether he's going to turn up on his A-game, or look totally unrecognisable as one of the sport's leading players.

Well, on the opening night of the PartyCasino.com Premier League in Southampton, he was somewhere in the middle as he managed a 3-3 draw with Ronnie O'Sullivan, who admitted after the match he was happy to take a point.

The Rocket had to come from behind three times to earn a draw, in a match where very few chances were left unpunished.

Fu came flying out of the blocks with a break of 63 to claim the first frame. Ronnie levelled with efforts of 76 and 61 in the second.

Fu was back on top after clinching a scrappy third but O'Sullivan replied with a scitilating 119. He fell behind again as the Hong Kong cueman guaranteed a point with a frame-winning break of 87 in frame 5.

And then in the last,the Rocket made 103 to leave the match honours even.

Fu said: "3-3 is kind of a fair result as we both had chances to win the match. I played better and felt a little more comfortable as we’re playing more matches this year. I feel confident and hopefully can continue like this."