Ronnie O’Sullivan achieved a perfect symmetry at the 2022 World Snooker Championship as he etched his name in the history books once again. His tremendous triumph balances the scale of perfection across the Triple Crown board as he compiles 7 World Championships, 7 Masters and 7 UK Championships over a glittering thirty-year career.
It was a tournament filled with broken Crucible records: most appearances, most quarter and semi-final appearances, most wins, oldest winner and of course, equalling the great Stephen Hendry. But the stats are the easy part. I wanted to highlight an appreciation towards the manner in which O’Sullivan approached and performed in this unforgettable year at the WSC.
The sheer level of concentration on display by O’Sullivan was unlike anything I have ever seen from him before. Even more so than in 2020. He was putting more care into his shots and showing a lot more patience rather than having a bash and throwing caution to the wind. Perhaps prior to the tournament, O’Sullivan said to himself that he would make a determined effort at the Worlds seeing as he doesn’t know if he would get so far again. This was probably coupled by the fact that he chose to film a documentary surrounding his attempt that year.
Secondly, O’Sullivan was clinical. Extraordinarily clinical. Over the past few years his potting didn’t seem to be as reliable as it once was. There were unforced errors and simple pots missed that you wouldn’t expect from O’Sullivan. However, that seemed to be long forgotten throughout this arduous event. O’Sullivan was devastating when left in and had a formidable safety game to fall back to whenever he needed. Furthermore, his long potting was terrific, so all aspects of his game were exactly how they needed to be.
O’Sullivan’s ‘comfortable’ performances on his way to the trophy have led many to question that he had a favourable draw. I don’t necessarily agree this to be the case. Granted, his opposition for the first few rounds weren’t up to par but they were also against a player that was firing on all cylinders (with the exception of his match against Maguire). He didn’t face any relatively unknown players as many do in the first couple of rounds and each of his opponents had a good chance of beating O’Sullivan in their own right.
I’ve always seen O’Sullivan as having four ‘boogeymen’ in snooker: Mark Selby, Neil Robertson (particularly recently), John Higgins and Judd Trump. He beat two of these four in the latter stages of the sport’s largest tournament. There is no doubt in my mind that had he faced Selby or Robertson in this event that the result would be any different. His focus and performance would have put a stop to anything that they could have thrown at him this year.
Of course, there were spells of drama during the WSC and not all of it defensible. But I also think it went to show how much O’Sullivan really wanted to make an effort at going all the way. When he won in 2020, he was deflective in his interviews, talking about his cue action and the Joe Davis book. And I think this helped relieve the pressure that’s normally on him as he made his way through the tournament. He was more insightful this time round with his interviews and had a calmer demeanour off the table. It’s like he already knew he had it all won.
There seemed to be an air of inevitability at this year’s Worlds as each round progressed. All the top contenders were getting through, but all eyes were gravitating back towards O’Sullivan. Obviously, this happens every year but why did it feel different this time round?
It all goes back to his performance and concentration. O’Sullivan had a reasonably good season with numerous latter stage performances as well as the Grand Prix win. Although, he definitely saved his best performance for the very end. The concentration aspect was arguably an even more significant factor. It was actually quite unusual watching O’Sullivan focused for such a sustained period of time. This is probably why there was such an outburst of emotion after all was said and done because that’s what it took out of him to reach the winning line. Just watch his Eurosport interview following the win.
This victory cements O’Sullivan’s status as the greatest of all time. It was admirable watching Hendry throughout the event via commentary and post-session interviews as he foresaw what seemed to be inevitable and took it all in great stride and respect. And when Hendry commentates on O’Sullivan’s matches it’s clear as day how much he enjoys watching him play the game…’the way it’s meant to be played’. And who puts a mic on themselves for an entire WSC and has winning merchandise on the ready just in case they win? That’s G.O.A.T. stuff.
Indeed, it takes two to make a great final. And there’s a lot to say about runner-up, Judd Trump. But that’s all to come next week, so stay tuned! What did you think of this year’s World Championship? What were your highs and lows? Let me know in the comments below!
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