On Monday 2 May 2022, Cue Sports Community picked up Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record-breaking seventh victory at the World Snooker Championship, the sport’s most coveted title. In a later interview, he stated that he would return the following year in search of an eighth man. His convincing victory over Judd Trump in the final confirmed what snooker fans really knew. We live in the golden age of billiards.
The first thing to say about the sport itself is that it is very, very difficult. For those who have never been to a pool table, they are huge (12 x 6 feet) and their pockets are slightly wider than the diameter of the ball. It’s a sport that requires extreme precision, and perhaps at the professional level you need temperament like granite to handle mistakes and misses in the spotlight. The unbearable pain of poor performance is exacerbated by the ruthless cruelty of having to watch helplessness while the other person ruthlessly makes a mistake. The player spirals and passes out while looking at the world. Don’t be fooled by pointed shoes, white gloves or vests. This is a cruel game.
Snooker in the 1970s was nothing more than a pub sport, but that quickly changed when the rise in interest generated large infusions. The investment and participation of prominent figures in the sports industry such as Barry Hearn (father of boxing promoter Eddie Hearn) sparked explosive growth in the early 1980s, proving the difference. Alex “Hurricane” Higgins won his first World Championship (1972) in front of 100 spectators in a residential park in southwest Birmingham. He stated a second time (1982) at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre, which was seen by 1,000 people in the arena and over 10 million people on television.
The game has changed a lot in the 50 years of the professional era. However, one man, Ronnie O’Sullivan, created billiards and took it higher than any other man.
Known simply as “Ronnie”, he has an enthusiastic following unlike any other touring player. He receives solid support from the fans (usually politely in the form of grumpy “Gong Ronnie!” grunts from the previous audience). This is especially impressive in games where spectators “supporting” one player are relatively rare. He is an extreme player. It is unlikely that he has a reputation as snooker’s “bad boy”, excellent, arrogant, wet, aloof, deadpan, imposing and completely unflappable. However, Ronnie’s controversy had a huge impact on the game’s popularity. People don’t know what he’s going to do next or what he’s going to say, so I’m looking forward to his performance. You can enter tournaments and dilute the competition without breaking a sweat. Or you can lose in the first round, curse the event team and act like it’s all a pointless task. His unpredictability and emotionalize encapsulate snooker’s enduring charm in a strange way.
He is an extreme player: brilliant, cheeky, capricious, indifferent, impressive, completely hingeless, and unlikely to have a reputation as a “bad boy” in the pool.
But on the table, his record is unpublished and relentless. The professional snooker season consists primarily of 17 “qualifying events”, the largest of which are the British National Cyclotrons, Masters, World Championships and the coveted “Triple Crown”. Only 11 players in the history of sports can be said to have won each of these tournaments at least once in their careers, but only O’Sullivan has 21 triple crown titles. He is also the youngest and oldest world champion to win more qualifying tournaments (38), Masters and British Championships than any other player. He took the maximum break possible, achieved more times (15) in TV competitions than any other player in 147 rows (36 rows!), And faster than anyone else (5 minutes 8 seconds). ) I did it. Statistics speak for themselves: is he certainly the greatest of all?
Only one of Stephen Hendry approached Ronnie in the winning pool.
Stephen Hendry has been in control for 10 years, as before or after. He regarded the 1990s as his own. He has seven world titles in nine seasons, five in a row. Hendery shattered the first century and tried to win the mark in one visit instead of a few. His ten years of billiards are unmatched. However, O’Sullivan is still above the top. What makes a domain stand out is the level of competition it faces and its longevity.
In 1992, three of the best pool players, O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams, appeared at the same time. At the time, the “1992 class” was a big deal, but it wasn’t until they were in their thirties that they proved how unique they were. They were the first players in their 30s and 40s to play on the best pool table and continue to win (Ronnie won more world titles 20 years later than between them). This could be the result of a ban on smoking and drinking in professional games (2007) or simply a growing interest in fitness for players, but we believe the trio will break the age limit and unleash the potential of gamers. Has been done. compete.
This month’s British 7th World Title introduced a vintage-style snooker that we were accustomed to thanks to him. He still has it and his skills at the table show no signs of slowing down. His behavior shows that his interest in the game is declining on a regular basis, which may be a rate-determining factor in running, rather than a decline in age-related skills. But strangely enough, hydraulics appeared at the disastrous unveiling following this latest victory. Maybe he’s still caring and maybe he’s interested in breaking his own record again, and maybe we want him to take the sport to a higher level I can. He summarizes everything wonderful and noteworthy about snooker, and what he clues is art. This can last for a long time.
