Ronnie O’Sullivan broke again under the pressure of the Crucible theatre. It’s not a surprise when you consider the statistics of the best player of all time in World Cup matches, writes Atte Husu.
Atte Husuurheilu journalist
Let’s make one thing clear right from the start: Ronnie O’Sullivan is arguably the best snooker player in history.
The 48-year-old Englishman is the most successful snooker player of all time, who can mesmerize the audience with his skills better than any other star of the sport.
Still, O’Sullivan has a major flaw that has come to the fore in the World Cup for years. Although O’Sullivan has been crowned world champion a record seven times, the formula has been one-sided in the championships.
In each of his championship years, O’Sullivan has crushed his opponents. Seven World Cup titles have required 35 victories, of which only one has come in a knockout round. This happened in the 2020 World Cup semi-final where O’Sullivan stood up in front of an empty crowd Mark Selby against from a two-set chasing position to a 17–16 victory.
O’Sullivan’s supporters also hoped for a similar letter on May Day evening, when Stuart Bingham had progressed convincingly to a 12–10 lead in the battle of the English players – i.e. one set away from a place in the semi-finals.
Bingham gave O’Sullivan another chance to get into the match in the 23rd when he missed an easy pink ball to lead 52–0. However, O’Sullivan’s attempt to clear the table was missed on the last yellow ball, after which Bingham bagged enough flush balls to win the match.
Bingham emphasized in his post-match interviews that he especially enjoyed the final moments of the fight. The same cannot be said for O’Sullivan.
Weak stats
Before yesterday, O’Sullivan and Bingham had met in 21 professional matches. Of these, O’Sullivan had taken 18 to his name.
However, one of Bingham’s three wins was from the 2015 World Championship tournament. In it, Bingham defeated O’Sullivan 13–9 in the quarterfinals and eventually progressed all the way to the world championship.
Last night, Bingham was able to gain strength from Takuu not only from his victory nine years ago, but also from O’Sullivan’s weak statistics of close World Cup matches. The fact is, the further the matches have progressed as draws, the more O’Sullivan’s stock has fallen.
In the early stages of the main series of the WC tournament (1st and 2nd round and quarterfinals), the 980-seat Crucible theater is divided in two, as games are played simultaneously on two different tables. Half the arena is the tightest and most stressful playing space on the professional tour.
O’Sullivan has played 82 preliminary round matches at the Crucible Theater in his career, of which he has won 72. O’Sullivan is the best in the world at playing in the lead position, which can be seen in, among other things, big-number wins. Of the 82 fights in the opening rounds, only 13 have ended with a margin of one or two rounds. Of these, O’Sullivan has lost eight.
O’Sullivan’s opponents know this too. In the last ten years, O’Sullivan has not won a single close match in the opening rounds. The wins have always come with a margin of at least three sets.
Concentration was lost
After O’Sullivan couldn’t get away from Bingham on Wednesday, the final period of the match saw several unexpected misses from the superstar. As the period progressed, O’Sullivan’s difficulties in controlling the cue ball increased.
Other signs of challenges were also visible. Among other things, O’Sullivan sarcastically scolded himself after a weak shot and stopped playing for a couple of minutes when the spectators returned from the break to the stands of the next table. In addition, the table got to taste the knuckles of a frustrated O’Sullivan.
The frustration was visible and audible – and rained down on the calm Bingham. As an all-time player, O’Sullivan was once again far from his best when the competitive demands were at their highest.
A historic tournament
The win for Bingham, who made his way to the Crucible Theater through the qualifiers, meant that there is only one seeded player in the semi-finals starting on Friday. She is English Kyren Wilsonwho poured Scotch of John Higgins batch 13–9.
In addition to Bingham, two other qualifiers will be seen in the semi-finals, the Englishman David Gilbert and a Welshman Jack Jones.
The World Snooker tournament has been organized since 1981 with a chart where the 16 best stick players in the world ranking are placed directly in the main series of 32 players. With this system, there have never been three unseeded players in the semifinals.
When the WC tournament was held for the first time at the Crucible in 1977, three qualifiers progressed to the top four. At that time, however, there were only eight ranked players.
In several assessments of this year’s World Cup tournament, the reigning O’Sullivan and Judd Trump a duel that would take place in the semi-finals and the winner of which would hardly be able to stop in the finals on Sunday and Monday.
The fact that the tournament didn’t go completely according to the script can be a disappointment to many. At the same time, lesser-known players breaking into the limelight at the main event of the season – and on such a wide front – is the best thing that has happened to snooker in ages.