Ronnie won his 6th World Championship tonight, beating Kyren Wilson by 18-8, equaling Steve Davis and Ray Reardon. This is his 37th ranking title, now superseeding Stephen Hendry, and his 20th “Triple Crown”.
Congratulations Ronnie!
These are the numbers
And the reports by WST on yesterday’s action
Ronnie O’Sullivan is just one frame away from a sixth Crucible triumph as he leads Kyren Wilson 17-8 in the final of the Betfred World Championship.
From 10-8, O’Sullivan reeled off seven frames in a row to leave his opponent down and virtually out. They resume at 7.30pm and if O’Sullivan makes it to 18 frames first he will add to the titles he won in 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2013.
Six Crucible crowns would bring him level with Steve Davis and just one behind Stephen Hendry, and at the age of 44 he would become the oldest World Champion since Ray Reardon in 1978. O’Sullivan would also move to 37 career ranking titles, putting him one ahead of Hendry.
Wilson took the first frame of the third session with a break of 73 to trail 10-8 overall. He then had a chance to clear from 64-0 down in the next but crucially missed a tricky pink to a centre pocket on 15 when the remaining balls were in the open. That proved a turning point as O’Sullivan took the frame for 11-8, giving him the momentum to pull away.
In frame 20, Wilson trailed 33-48 when he missed a mid-range red to a top corner, letting his opponent in for a break of 61. O’Sullivan added the next with a top run of 57 to make it 13-8 at the interval.
Another error from Wilson early in frame 22, a missed red to a centre pocket, allowed O’Sullivan to make 60 and extend his lead, and the Rocket compiled a run of 71 in the next for 15-8.
A missed yellow with the rest, when he led 15-0, proved costly for Wilson in frame 24 as O’Sullivan made 72. In the last frame of the session, O’Sullivan led 61-0 when he missed the black off its spot. But Wilson’s chance to counter-attack ended on just 7 when he failed to roll the black along the cushion into a top corner. And with that, his hopes of a fight-back may have disappeared.
Evening session
Ronnie O’Sullivan conquered the Crucible for the first time in seven years by beating Kyren Wilson 18-8 in the final of the Betfred World Championship, landing the title for the sixth time.
In a one-sided conclusion to the final in Sheffield, O’Sullivan pulled away from 10-8 to take the last eight frames as Wilson ran out of steam. Having struggled to find consistency in his technique throughout the tournament, something clicked for O’Sullivan on the last day as he reeled off a series of frame-winning breaks. A crowd of 300 watched him lift the trophy at the end of a tournament played under unique circumstances,
Six Crucible triumphs brings Chigwell’s O’Sullivan within one of the record of seven held by Stephen Hendry. He also moves to a record 37 ranking titles, one ahead of the legendary Scot. Only the most loyal Hendry fan could now dispute the opinion that O’Sullivan is snooker’s greatest ever player.
At the age of 44 he becomes the oldest World Champion since Ray Reardon in 1978, while six titles draws him level with Reardon and Steve Davis. O’Sullivan has now won 20 Triple Crown events with an extraordinary 27 years between the first and last.
The £500,000 top prize doubles his previous biggest winner’s cheque and boosts him from sixth to second in the world rankings, behind only runaway leader Judd Trump.
O’Sullivan’s World Finals
2001 beat John Higgins 18-14
2004 beat Graeme Dott 18-8
2008 beat Ali Carter 18-8
2012 beat Ali Carter 18-11
2013 beat Barry Hawkins 18-12
2014 lost to Mark Selby 18-14
2020 beat Kyren Wilson 18-8There were times during the event when O’Sullivan looked a frustrated, fading force, notably at 7-2 down against Mark Williams and 13-9 down against Mark Selby. He enjoyed slices of fortune, particularly in the deciding frame of a 17-16 win over Selby. Above all, this was a triumph for O’Sullivan’s fighting spirit over the temptation to throw in the towel which often bubbles below the surface. He has finally proved to himself that, well into his 40s, he can still complete this marathon of the mind.
Wilson may reflect on a missed chance when he trailed 10-8, after which he never threatened. The 28-year-old from Kettering gave everything to beat Judd Trump in the quarter-finals and Anthony McGill 17-16 in an epic semi-final. He faltered on the home stretch and and he has now lost six of his nine ranking finals, though he can learn from the experience of his best Crucible run. The £200,000 pay-day is by far his biggest and he is up to a career-high of sixth in the world.
Leading 17-8 after the third session, O’Sullivan needed just ten minutes to wrap up the match in the concluding session with a rapid run of 96. Over the last eight frames he made seven breaks over 50.
“I was happy to get one world title at one stage,” said O’Sullivan. “Once I got to four I knew I could call myself one of the greats, because that’s how many times John Higgins had won it. Anything above that and you are in fantastic company.
“One thing I have got is longevity. I go in and out of form and my mind can wander sometimes. Then I get a bit of a taste for it again and want to see if I’ve still got it, so I try to have a go at it as I have done in this tournament. When you practise for five or six hours a day it’s because you want to know whether you are hitting it straight enough to stand up under pressure.
“Kyren is a top player and is improving all the time. He has got desire, the hunger and the belief in his ability. His fire is burning bright enough and he will get there in the end. He will win this tournament one day – not to put too much pressure on him. He is a country mile above everyone else his age and he always wants to raise his own bar.”
Wilson said: “I’m not going to beat myself up to much. It was a dream come true to play Ronnie in the final. I really struggled in the first session yesterday. We both had a bit of a hangover from the semi-finals. I’m a fighter. I tried to just relax, let the shackles off and go for it.
“The night belongs to Ronnie, he was amazing in the final. He has shown his class when he wasn’t quite at his best. He was awesome in the third session.
“I’m very lucky to have what I have, to be 28 and playing the sport that I love. It has given me an amazing life. To perform in an arena like this is an honour and I’m glad that a crowd was allowed in for the final.”
And you can enjoy the end of the final frame and the trophy ceremony here
Kyren Wilson is a credit to himself and to snooker. His time will come.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
What a fantastic player Ronnie is . Always follow him . Hope he wins sports personality 😘😊
WOW !, What a time to be ALIVE !. The way he turned around the debacle of the 30th frame in the semi-final was remarkable. As Dave Hendon and others have said to watch this man in full flow is to witness something very special. He needed to be rock solid on Sunday, and boy was he. To quote D. H again snooker players come and go but there is only one R.O.S. Glad you and others here had a great weekend Monique lol Best B
So happy for Ronnie! I fell vindicated in my suggestions throughout the season that Ronnie was saving up energy/enthusiasm/fighting spirit for making an honest run at the WC. I expect him to do something similar next season as well.
On a related note, does anyone (including Monique) know if Ronnie is still working with SightRight? He never talks about it, but I see Steve Feeney in some of Ronnie’s post-match photos and I also know that Ronnie once said in an interview that he had started working with SightRight because he wanted to find a cue action that could hold up over 17 days at the Crucible…
yrs he does although he’s not as involded with sightright as Mark Williams for instance. And, Mark, I’m over the moon about Ronnie’s 6th World but I honestly believe that he wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the covid-19 crisis.
Thanks, Monique. I’m glad to hear that Ronnie’s still with SightRight, although his (ostensible) cueing problems at the WC don’t necessarily give me a lot of confidence in the coaching method. But then again, maybe the poor table conditions convinced Ronnie that he was cueing/playing worse than he actually was.
I tend to agree with you that Ronnie wouldn’t have won the WC if not for the pandemic. He presumably benefited more than other players did from everyone (especially, Judd) being rusty, and he really seemed to enjoy his time off at home over the past several months. Plus, he himself seemed to believe that the lack of a crowd in the venue was good for him. All that said, though, I still believe that he was planning all along to invest an honest effort into trying to win this season, even if his chances of doing so would have been lower without the pandemic.
He actually isn’t with Feeney right now – because he wouldn’t stop talking about snooker apparently lol
Also in the Eurosport interview, he said he’d talked to Peters 3 months prior about seriously buckling down and giving the Worlds a real go. So probably wasn’t thinking about the crucible the full season, but he did put in serious effort.
I’m with Monique that the lockdown helped him, because in his winning speech he mentioned not being able to do exhibitions, so instead he practiced on actual good tables, and found that helpful. lol oh Ronnie
(and of course the lack of crowds. Knowing more about that reaction, I really hope he finds more strategies to ignore/cope the crowd and keep showcasing his carefree brilliance.)
Though of course he’d have tried hard regardless of when it was put on, especially after being denied the chance of defending the coral tournaments / losing to Ding in the UK.
He brushed off the romantic idea of storylines, but goodness he’s great at creating them. #6 for #37, that’s just beautiful.
Well Feeney was clearly sat in his corner during the fimal, next Ronnie’s friend Robin who has been with him at countless tournaments. But , true,he didn’t show up for the trophy photo. As far as I know, Ronnie went to Feeney in order to see if ihe could help him with his technique but he definitely doesn’t want to be sucked in the whole “Sightright network” thing.
Fabulous and incredible win 👏🚀🏆👏✨🤩 (as a long Ronnie fan just pure bliss in the end and still on cloud 9).
Thanks Monique for your blog / reports to keep us updated and putting events in perspective at times.
And to Ronnie and all his fans – just enjoy it !!!