By Elliott West
“I’ve won so much that I’ve got to start to enjoy the occasion and if I don’t give 100 per cent all the time I’ve earned that right”.
Ronnie O’Sullivan speaking after his 2021 World Grand Prix victory.
Introduction
Someone on social media asked me to put my thoughts on paper about Ronnie O’Sullivan’s win at the recent World Grand Prix. It has to be said that I was beginning to think that Ronnie was going off the boil. With no finals in sight in the present season, it could be assumed that this well-decorated snooker player hasn’t been cutting the mustard in recent months with his head not quite in the winning zone. However, this assumption was well and truly dispelled with his 10-8 victory over Australia’s Neil Robertson at this year’s World Grand Prix in Coventry, the last tournament on the main tour before Christmas.
Ronnie still has plenty of fuel in the tank and when he applies himself, he can still beat anyone. He doesn’t have anything to prove anymore but is still highly critical of any mistakes in his game. A perfectionist who probably over analyses his game far too often and should accept a win for a win. A success in snooker has led to him reaching and winning the final of the World Grand Prix, his 59th professional final to date.
The Blame Game
Ronnie’s semi-final World Grand Prix meeting with Stuart Bingham produced a clear cut victory for O’Sullivan, winning the match 6-2. Yet afterwards, ‘the Rocket’ gave a woeful analysis of the match, telling ITV4:
“We both stunk it out. We were both really, really poor”.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
It is true that the match was ridden with errors but O’Sullivan like any great champion, dug deep and won despite both players struggling throughout and playing “like a couple of club players”. At the end of the day despite what Ronnie described as being an “embarrassing performance”, O’Sullivan played the tidier game. His comments echo those that he made after beating Jimmy Robertson 5-2 and Iranian player, Hossein Vafaei 4-1 in the previous two rounds.
In the final itself, Neil Robertson had returned to the snooker fold after a health scare. Robertson had to go on a course of steroids to combat pulsatile tinnitus, a condition that causes dizziness and balance issues. An experience that he described as “like walking on a bouncy castle”. Thankfully he seems on the mend and it certainly didn’t show in his World Grand Prix performances, dispatching Mark Selby 6-3.
After an afternoon performance where Ronnie underperformed and Neil ruled the roost, O’Sullivan came back from a 7-5 deficit. The final interval was the pause that Ronnie required and managed to set his mind into winning mode and produced a stunning performance that stopped the Australian from winning despite a late fightback. A victory for O’Sullivan that allowed him to claim his 38th career winning title.
Retirement?
Anyone who knows or who has listened to this six times world champion will know that what he says and actually does in reality, are two completely different things. Ronnie has threatened to retire many times but when it comes to the crunch, he carries on. At 46, some would have expected him to put away his cue and move on to different ventures, especially as his World Grand Prix win was the first title since he last won the World Championship.
Ronnie gave an interesting press interview after the World Grand Prix, saying that the main reason for putting retirement on the back burner was due to waiting for when his daughter finished her educational studies.
“I want to keep playing until my daughter finishes school, that is motivating me to play for at least another three World Championships. Otherwise I would probably turn it in tomorrow.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan
So it seems likely that we see O’Sullivan compete on the main snooker tour for a fair few years to come. Despite his desire to keep playing, mainly because he now enjoys playing, he knows that age won’t stand still for anyone. Ronnie will have learnt from Steve Davis that when your game declines, it is time to say your goodbyes. However, that moment hasn’t yet come for this naturally gifted snooker player. He remains the fulcrum of the modern game, one that other players aspire to and someone who draws in a large audience, selling large numbers of tickets and doing what World Snooker aims to do, sell out venues and provide a memorable snooker experience.
