By Elliott West
“I tried to be as relaxed as I could but that’s probably my greatest result against someone”.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Introduction
I have let the dust slightly settle on the Crucible stage before writing this piece. As the riggers and fitters arrive to take down the World Championship fixtures and fittings and get the theatre ready for the World Seniors this week, let’s cast our minds back over what has been a glorious seventeen days of snooker. This year’s World Championship will go down in the snooker history books as a tournament that had it all, quality snooker, suspense, drama, edge of your deciding frames and a brilliant 147 break from Neil Robertson.
There is something special about the World Championship, the last hurrah of the snooker season that makes the chosen few that compete in it, turn up the throttle and play to a standard that enthrals and frankly mesmerises the audience that the players display their skills before. It is as if the spirits of every tournament since 1977 in this snug and beautiful environment, enthuse their souls and lift their game that makes any one of them worthy to kiss the silver lady.
The Road to Victory
In a tournament that showcased the leading lights of snooker from the young blood of Jackson Page to the highly talented Yan Bingtao and a spirited Jack Lisowski, the pressure was firmly on the shoulders of Neil Robertson as tournament favourite to go all the way and for Mark Selby to retain the title that he had won twelve months previously. However like a deck of playing cards, each fell one by one and it was the Class of ‘92 that shone once again with John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan and an impressive Mark Williams populating the semi-finals joined by Judd Trump who was just starting to find his stride in this illustrious snooker field.
Mark Williams took his match against Judd Trump to the wire, producing snooker that was some of his best in his long and illustrious career, bringing the Gand back from the brink and only just falling short in the deciding frame that was lost on a pressure pot, a black that resisted falling into the pocket and then couldn’t be salvaged from a quagmire of snookers required and ended with a 17-16 scoreline. A match that Williams could still leave with his head held high and a definite tour de force of this year’s World Championship.
Meanwhile, there seemed to be no stopping Ronnie O’Sullivan in his semi-final clash with his old rival John Higgins. The Scot looks tired from this snooker marathon and could never really get going. O’Sullivan made light work of his opponent, perhaps not shown in the 17-11 scoreline but a match that John was keen to exit stage right and lick his wounds during the Summer break.
The Final
In what I dubbed as the Ronnie O’Sullivan Show, this final could have been a fight to the death between Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan. Judd had a good record against his opponent and had beaten him in a number of finals and if anyone could deny Ronnie his seventh Crucible crown, Trump had the profile. The first day of play was disastrous for Judd, his game imploded and he frankly looked like a man being sent to the gallows. His opponent ran rings around him and the Bristolian was already being touted as a runner-up when play ended in the evening session with O’Sullivan all but crowned in name, winning the evening session 12-5.
If Judd was going to succeed in this last day of play, he was going to have to tame this Pete Sampras of snooker. Unnerved by the chasm of deficit that he had to reduce, Trump did perform the better of the two in the afternoon session and gave his corner a fighting chance, reducing Ronnie’s lead to 14-11 including a century break and 108 centuries for the event, equalling the all-time record and Judd winning five frames in the afternoon session.
Judd’s family especially his brother Jack, must have had a serious chat with this often shy sportsman who clearly suffers from confidence issues. This game was still there to be won but Judd would have to prise the trophy from Ronnie’s hands with a wrench if he had any chance of prevailing.
On a day when Jimmy White got a standing ovation from the Crucible audience to mark his 60th birthday, it was only fitting that he should get a celebratory conclusion to this year’s World Championship final. It was the night when he got his birthday wish. This would be Ronnie’s night, taking the first frame with a break of 82 to move within three frames at 15-11 of winning the title.
O’Sullivan would then take the next frame to take a 16-11 lead but Judd briefly stopped him in his tracks with a 64 break that ensured the match went beyond the mid-session interval, trailing Ronnie now, 16-12. However, O’Sullivan would pinch the next to go within one frame of victory when they returned.
Trump would make one final impression in this final, winning the next frame and knocking in a century break that would be the 109th of the championship and now a new record. However, this 17-13 deficit would come back to haunt him when O’Sullivan won the next frame, match and the 7th world championship title that Ronnie so craved.
In a rare and emotional outburst, revealing another sensitive side to his character, it was obvious how much this meant to him. Flanked by his son and daughter and as the ticker tape rained above his head, this was the moment that Ronnie O’Sullivan at 46, became the oldest player to win the world championship, beating Ray Reardon’s record of 45 in 1978. A fitting tribute to the former professional who rejuvenated O’Sullivan’s game.
Afterthoughts
Ronnie O’Sullivan didn’t have anything to prove prior to winning this World Championship and still doesn’t after winning his seventh. What is clear is the public and private personas of this complex character are completely different, bravado versus the loving father. Ronnie may still be a long way from matching Joe Davis’ 15 world championship titles but he has practically smashed every other record in the book, Perhaps now the judges at Sports Personality of the Year will shortlist him for the award, one that has eluded him in previous years.
There will come a time when Ronnie O’Sullivan does eventually retire and that is probably just as unpredictable as when I was attempting to choose a Crucible winner. He still remains a massive draw for any crowd and some think he is all that snooker is about. Perhaps he will attempt to topple Stephens Hendy’s record and go for an eighth next year but the fact remains that he tries his hardest in Triple Crown events.
