Ronnie’s World Title defence came to an end in the quarter-finals as he was beaten by an excellent Luca Brecel.
Ronnie came to play the third and last session of his quarter-final match today, leading by 10-6, but he failed to win a single frame this afternoon and the match ended on a 13-10 score in favour of his opponent, Luca Brecel.
These are the scores for the third session session: Ronnie left, Luca right
That’s quite damning. Ronnie didn’t play well at all although he didn’t make that many mistakes, but every single one proved very costly. The simple truth is that Luca played exceptionally well today. He looked relaxed and confident, was getting all the difficult shots, scored heavily and starved his opponent of any amount of quality table time. If he carries on that way, he is very capable of winning the title and, of course, that would be great for the development of snooker in mainland Europe, and Belgium in particular.
I don’t know if Luca listened to Alan McManus yesterday, or if someone in his entourage did, but there was no nonsense today, just sheer brilliance.
For Ronnie it has largely be a season to forget. He won two invitational events, but failed to go past the quarter-finals in any ranking event. He has suffered from that elbow injury for most of the season and that probably didn’t help. He also arrived at the Crucible suffering from a bug. But maybe – and it pains me to write this – it’s age finally catching up with him.
“No one else can play like that,” said Ronnie O’Sullivan after his hopes of an eighth Cazoo World Championship crown were ended by an astonishing seven frame burst from Luca Brecel, winning 13-10 to reach the semi-finals.
For once, snooker’s all-time greatest O’Sullivan was on the receiving end of a blistering display of attacking snooker. Brecel’s average shot time across the match was just 17.7 seconds as, seemingly unburdened by pressure or doubt, he allowed his remarkable natural ability to take over. The last seven frames took just 75 minutes as the Belgian ace rattled in a series of fluent breaks, thumping balls into pockets with confidence and accuracy. Brecel has won three ranking titles but this was perhaps his best ever performance.
The first player from mainland Europe to go this deep into snooker’s biggest tournament, the 28-year-old will now experience the one-table situation at the Crucible for the first time, facing Anthony McGill or Si Jiahui over 33 frames on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Brecel did not win a match in his first five visits to Sheffield, but is now making up for that record.
A year ago, O’Sullivan equalled Stephen Hendry’s record of seven world titles, but despite a resounding 13-2 defeat of Hossein Vafaei in the second round this time, he was outplayed by Brecel, albeit making no more than a handful or errors in the last session. O’Sullivan has won two invitation titles this season but has failed to land a ranking title and will lose his world number one spot if Mark Allen reaches the final this week.
The opening frame today came down to the last two reds. O’Sullivan was trapped in a difficult snooker and handed his opponent the chance to clear and close to 10-7. Brecel then set sparks flying with breaks of 112, 64 and 72 to level at 10-10.
If Brecel’s fans were concerned that the interval might his affect his momentum, they were soon pacified. The last three frames took just 26 minutes and O’Sullivan potted just one ball, as Brecel added runs of 61, 78 and 63 to reach the 11th ranking event semi-final of his career.
“To win seven frames in a row against Ronnie is probably the best session I have played,” said ninth seed Brecel. “I was so composed for the whole match, I felt very calm, even at the end. It’s amazing to do that in the Crucible. It was like a dream because there was big crowd, Stephen Hendry was in the commentary box, I was playing Ronnie and playing my best stuff. It doesn’t get any better than that!
“I struggled at the Crucible many times but it has all changed suddenly and I don’t know why. I feel so good here now and I have not struggled to get over the line in my three matches. If I wasn’t happy off the table then I wouldn’t be able to play like this.
“The attention in Belgium when I beat Mark Williams was unbelievable. Fans could follow it live online on newspaper websites. I don’t think many people expected me to win but I did, which is great for snooker in Belgium. I am feeling exhausted now, I need to feel fit to be able to play my next match, otherwise I will not be able to play at 12 seconds a shot. So I have to wait to see how I feel tomorrow, but if I feel good I will play the same game.”
O’Sullivan said: “Luca was phenomenal, brilliant, amazing. What a player, what a talent. I’ve never seen a talent like that before. No one plays like that, it’s impossible. That was confident, solid, assured. I don’t think he realises how talented he is, it’s very hard for you to see your own gift, other people see it. But he is one gifted snooker player. The way he gets through the ball, the art, the work he gets on the white. He plays with no inhibitions. I’m sure he gets nervous, but when you play like that you don’t really get nervous because it happens at such a good speed. It’s a lovely way to play snooker.
“He’s got a great attitude towards the game. He turns up plays, loves it, enjoys his life. Even if he doesn’t win it, it’s still great to have him in the game and we love watching him.”
“He played unbelievable. He is such a good player and I love watching him. He is such a dynamic player and he is full a talent,” O’Sullivan told BBC Sport.
“Probably the most talented snooker player I have ever seen. I would love to go and see him win it just for snooker because that is how the game should be played.
“If I’d have put up a bit more resistance maybe he wouldn’t have played as well but you still have to pot the balls. I just wasn’t playing well enough to have an impact on the game.
“If it was a boxing match they’d have stopped it very early because I was pinching frames and hanging on and it catches up with you at some point.”
Luca
“It was a great feeling to play like that. I know that if the balls go well for me I can easily win seven frames in a row even against Ronnie, so I am not surprised,” Brecel said.
“Mentally I was ready but physically I wasn’t feeling too well, I was sweating and my arm didn’t feel good. It is amazing to beat someone like Ronnie from so far behind.
“I felt good from 10-9 down. My cue ball improved when I got to 10-10 and every frame got better.”
Inevitably after this season there will be questions about the future
I’ve played a lot of matches here,’ he said. ‘At some point it has to end but I hope it doesn’t end soon.
‘I hope when I’m not performing as well as I need to win tournaments, I can still come here and keep enjoying playing.
‘If I have to qualify, then so be it. Not do what Stephen Hendry did which was walk away a little bit earlier than he maybe should have done. You can keep playing, enjoying it, reinventing yourself, I don’t have to win tournaments to enjoy this game.
‘I love my practice more than my tournaments. That is a massive incentive for me to keep playing.’
…
See you next season Ronnie … hopefully fully fit, injury free and happy
22 thoughts on “2023 Crucible – Day 12 – Ronnie bows out to Luca Brecel”
Honestly I didn’t expect Ronnie winning this year. It looks very hard to defend a title, especially the world championship! Naturally now I am disappointed after his lead over Brecel, but I think Ronnies preparation could not be perfect with injury, injection, antibiotics and then the illness – he looked tired, not surprising!!
As Ronnie always says, the “Snooker Gods” did something good for snooker, especially for snooker in Europe, so all bad things has a good side, and you Monique must have this time a laughing and a crying eye – a great day for Belgiens Snooker!!l
So we wish Ronnie to recover and enjoy a good next season.
And Monique many thanks for your work, comments,…..
Thank you Elisabeth. Yes, I have very mixed emotions here, strong ones too.
just a terrible session. A complete collapse. Felt like old times when he lost to Ebdon and Dott in 2005,2006 respectively.
Part of me wonders if Ronnie didn’t fancy the prospect of a Final against Selby/Higgins, and (at least, subconsciously) decided to bow out of the tournament early…
Honestly I don’t think so Mark. If he had been able to go that far, he would have known that he can beat them. He wouldn’t have allowed them to dictate style or pace. Just like he did in the 2020 SF, he would not have allowed Selby to dictate the style of the match. He learned from 2014. But, no, it’s just the same as it has been all season. Health issues -> disrupted practice -> early exits or withdrawals-> lack of match fitness and confidence. It all snowballs and that true for all of them. Just look at where Trump is now and he’s s only in his early 30th.
that is just about the worst session of snooker he’s ever played, end of
And he has a few one in this season. Just remember against Ding at the UK or against Tian at the Welsh.
This is “just” the age unfortunately.
Possibly, or the elbow injury flaring again. He’s had it for about 2 years now, sometimes it gets better, sometimes it flares again and he is in pain, struggles to practice and play. He had injections just a couple of days ahead of the championship. It helped. But maybe now the effects of the injections are fading away? It’s a very intense event this one. We will probably never know because players usually don’t want to be perceived as “making excuses”. I’m pretty sure that those two whitewashes, especially the one by Tian, were more than just bad form on the day.
Ronnie has had a very poor season. Brecel plays well, but a good Ronnie never lost against a player who don’t have a sufficient safety game. Age catch up him? lack of preparation because of injury?
During 3 last seasons, Ronnie won oly 2 ranking tournament, WC 2022 and WGP 2022.
No one can beat the time. I hope to see him again in a Triple Crown final, but it will not be easy
The difference today was that Brecel did not squander the gifts Ronnie gave him. But it was truly disheartening to see that Ronnie had the table at his mercy in many frames and missed relatively easy pots. It is really nice to say that Brecel played a phenomenal game and there was nothing to do, but Ronnie was in first so many times and there was no reason for him to lose the frame. The season is a write-off and no more sugarcoating that he can’t get up for the minor tournaments, but saves himself for the big one. And he had a few wipeouts too and losing a session 7-0 is also like one. I increasingly felt during the season that it must be age catching up with him, it is just something very hard to accept, acknowledge and also recognize, because this season was not a parade for many of other top players either. Well, one can still enjoy seeing him play, but unfortunately there were very few enjoyable matches this season, I can count them on one hand, but guess there will be a few more later. It would be nice to get that 40th ranking title somehow somewhere, but I don’t hold my breath.
BIt fed up “he played well deserved win, love his game etc etc etc” interviews.
The first 3 frames he had clear chances! Throw them!!!!
Age, injury, illness, whatever! HE THROWED THESE FRAMES and these frames gave Brecel an extra motivation for the rest of the session.
Fair to say Ronnie was shit in this match.
I don’t think he’ll win his 8th title there. Crucible is too long.
Selby has a very good chance to take this title
Yes he was shit, but there is a difference between making mistakes and deliberately throwing frames. Ronnie was bad today, very bad. As for his comments … in the past he showed his true feelings, said he had played badly – which he had – and was accused by the fans and some of the press to try to downplay his opponent’s merit. He learned his lesson. He never says such things nowadays. He can’t win whatever he says it seems.
Maybe. But it just makes the idea of a postmatch interview utterly ridiculous and meaningless. Why bother? I would like to know what the hell happened that he missed pots (and not one, but many) when he had a good table, not that what a wonderful play by Brecel not to do the same. Lewis keeps complaining that the Chinese players are not interviewed – I start feeling nobody should be, because we learn nothing. We just hear platitudes and that is even more infuriating than the whole thing that happened.
…and what magnanimous and insightful comments from Ronnie…
Ronnie’s talking Bollicks..!!! He threw that whole days play away today.. He likes Brecel to much, “likes watching him play” was the big clue for me yesterday he had every intention of not beating him… But the biggest kick in the groin for me… Is Brecel when asked about what Vafaei said about Ronnie should be retiring etc.. Was HE AGREED with everything he said about Ronnie…!!! So the idiot.. 😡
Ronnie did not throw that match and he didn’t loose on purpose. Towards the end, it’s true that he probably didn’t believe he could win but that’s different to throwing the match away deliberately. His form has been generally poor all season and the injury has disrupted his preparation too. If I’m honest, before the tournament I just hoped that he would win the first match and even that I wasn’t sure.
Thanks, Monique, for your fair and thoughtful reporting.
Age does seem to be affecting Ronnie; but he is still deadly and, as he showed last year, has the stamina for the longest tournament. It’s just that some of his natural fluency and consistency won’t be there.
I hope and expect him to win at least one more world title. But even if he doesn’t, what an ornament he has been to the game.
A couple of minor points:
* Even though they wish him well, I don’t think people help Ronnie when they say they expect him to win. He has always won at the Crucible as a kind of underdog.
* Can we now have a major tournament in Belgium, please?
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Honestly I didn’t expect Ronnie winning this year. It looks very hard to defend a title, especially the world championship! Naturally now I am disappointed after his lead over Brecel, but I think Ronnies preparation could not be perfect with injury, injection, antibiotics and then the illness – he looked tired, not surprising!!
As Ronnie always says, the “Snooker Gods” did something good for snooker, especially for snooker in Europe, so all bad things has a good side, and you Monique must have this time a laughing and a crying eye – a great day for Belgiens Snooker!!l
So we wish Ronnie to recover and enjoy a good next season.
And Monique many thanks for your work, comments,…..
Thank you Elisabeth. Yes, I have very mixed emotions here, strong ones too.
just a terrible session. A complete collapse. Felt like old times when he lost to Ebdon and Dott in 2005,2006 respectively.
Part of me wonders if Ronnie didn’t fancy the prospect of a Final against Selby/Higgins, and (at least, subconsciously) decided to bow out of the tournament early…
Honestly I don’t think so Mark. If he had been able to go that far, he would have known that he can beat them. He wouldn’t have allowed them to dictate style or pace. Just like he did in the 2020 SF, he would not have allowed Selby to dictate the style of the match. He learned from 2014. But, no, it’s just the same as it has been all season. Health issues -> disrupted practice -> early exits or withdrawals-> lack of match fitness and confidence. It all snowballs and that true for all of them. Just look at where Trump is now and he’s s only in his early 30th.
that is just about the worst session of snooker he’s ever played, end of
And he has a few one in this season. Just remember against Ding at the UK or against Tian at the Welsh.
This is “just” the age unfortunately.
Possibly, or the elbow injury flaring again. He’s had it for about 2 years now, sometimes it gets better, sometimes it flares again and he is in pain, struggles to practice and play. He had injections just a couple of days ahead of the championship. It helped. But maybe now the effects of the injections are fading away? It’s a very intense event this one. We will probably never know because players usually don’t want to be perceived as “making excuses”. I’m pretty sure that those two whitewashes, especially the one by Tian, were more than just bad form on the day.
Ronnie has had a very poor season. Brecel plays well, but a good Ronnie never lost against a player who don’t have a sufficient safety game. Age catch up him? lack of preparation because of injury?
During 3 last seasons, Ronnie won oly 2 ranking tournament, WC 2022 and WGP 2022.
No one can beat the time. I hope to see him again in a Triple Crown final, but it will not be easy
The difference today was that Brecel did not squander the gifts Ronnie gave him. But it was truly disheartening to see that Ronnie had the table at his mercy in many frames and missed relatively easy pots. It is really nice to say that Brecel played a phenomenal game and there was nothing to do, but Ronnie was in first so many times and there was no reason for him to lose the frame. The season is a write-off and no more sugarcoating that he can’t get up for the minor tournaments, but saves himself for the big one. And he had a few wipeouts too and losing a session 7-0 is also like one. I increasingly felt during the season that it must be age catching up with him, it is just something very hard to accept, acknowledge and also recognize, because this season was not a parade for many of other top players either. Well, one can still enjoy seeing him play, but unfortunately there were very few enjoyable matches this season, I can count them on one hand, but guess there will be a few more later. It would be nice to get that 40th ranking title somehow somewhere, but I don’t hold my breath.
BIt fed up “he played well deserved win, love his game etc etc etc” interviews.
The first 3 frames he had clear chances! Throw them!!!!
Age, injury, illness, whatever! HE THROWED THESE FRAMES and these frames gave Brecel an extra motivation for the rest of the session.
Fair to say Ronnie was shit in this match.
I don’t think he’ll win his 8th title there. Crucible is too long.
Selby has a very good chance to take this title
Yes he was shit, but there is a difference between making mistakes and deliberately throwing frames. Ronnie was bad today, very bad. As for his comments … in the past he showed his true feelings, said he had played badly – which he had – and was accused by the fans and some of the press to try to downplay his opponent’s merit. He learned his lesson. He never says such things nowadays. He can’t win whatever he says it seems.
Maybe. But it just makes the idea of a postmatch interview utterly ridiculous and meaningless. Why bother? I would like to know what the hell happened that he missed pots (and not one, but many) when he had a good table, not that what a wonderful play by Brecel not to do the same. Lewis keeps complaining that the Chinese players are not interviewed – I start feeling nobody should be, because we learn nothing. We just hear platitudes and that is even more infuriating than the whole thing that happened.
…and what magnanimous and insightful comments from Ronnie…
Ronnie’s talking Bollicks..!!! He threw that whole days play away today.. He likes Brecel to much, “likes watching him play” was the big clue for me yesterday he had every intention of not beating him… But the biggest kick in the groin for me… Is Brecel when asked about what Vafaei said about Ronnie should be retiring etc.. Was HE AGREED with everything he said about Ronnie…!!! So the idiot.. 😡
Ronnie did not throw that match and he didn’t loose on purpose. Towards the end, it’s true that he probably didn’t believe he could win but that’s different to throwing the match away deliberately. His form has been generally poor all season and the injury has disrupted his preparation too. If I’m honest, before the tournament I just hoped that he would win the first match and even that I wasn’t sure.
Thanks, Monique, for your fair and thoughtful reporting.
Age does seem to be affecting Ronnie; but he is still deadly and, as he showed last year, has the stamina for the longest tournament. It’s just that some of his natural fluency and consistency won’t be there.
I hope and expect him to win at least one more world title. But even if he doesn’t, what an ornament he has been to the game.
A couple of minor points:
* Even though they wish him well, I don’t think people help Ronnie when they say they expect him to win. He has always won at the Crucible as a kind of underdog.
* Can we now have a major tournament in Belgium, please?