Ronnie booked his place in the 2024 Tour Championship Final yesterday, beating Gary Wilson by 10-7 in an excellent match. The second half in particular was high standard.

Ronnie was happy after the match. He enjoyed the challenge, he likes the venue and seeed to be more at ease with his game. That’s a nice change from the rather morose mood that has so often prevailed this season despite all the successes.

Here is the report by WST:

O’SULLIVAN INTO 64TH RANKING FINAL

Ronnie O’Sullivan thrilled fans at a packed Manchester Central with a marvellous finish to beat Gary Wilson 10-7, reaching the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship and remaining on course for a sixth title of the season.

O’Sullivan has played in 11 knockout events this season and if he is successful in Sunday’s final against Mark Allen or Mark Williams he will have won six of those – an incredible strike rate. The world number one has already set a record for the most prize money earned in a single campaign and will take that figure past £1.3 million if he lands the £150,000 top prize.

He is through to a 64th career ranking final and is looking for a 42nd ranking title. Only once before in his career, back in 2000/01, has O’Sullivan won six titles in a season. 

The Rocket was pushed hard by Wilson in an entertaining contest which was in the balance at 7-7, but Wilson didn’t pot a ball in the last three frames as O’Sullivan – as he so often does – climbed to a higher plane with a devastating burst of potting. The 48-year-old has revelled in the atmosphere this week at the tournament’s new home and said: “This is an amazing venue – backstage is great, the arena and crowds are great.”

Wilson, winner of two ranking titles this season, came from 40-0 down to take the opening frame of the concluding session to lead 5-4, then O’Sullivan levelled with an excellent break of 42 towards the end of frame ten, helped by a fluke on the last red. In the 11th, Wilson led 41-9 when he played a loose safety, and his opponent punished him with a 54 clearance. 

Again in the 12th, Wilson looked in control, but missed a tough red to a baulk corner at 54-16 and O’Sullivan’s 57 put him 7-5 ahead. After the interval, world number 13 Wilson fought back with 84 and 96 for 7-7. But there was little he could do from that point as O’Sullivan won the last three frames in 33 minutes with top breaks of 97 and 129. 

“The way I played in the last three frames, I’d like to play like that for 60% or 70% of matches. But I have to just take it when it comes, keep trying to compete and enjoy it,” said O’Sullivan, whose only previous title in this event came in 2019.

“I really rate Gary. We have become good friends. He’s an honest bloke – the way he is in interviews, he’s the same in real life. He’s a great lad and it’s great to see him winning tournaments. He loves the game so much and gets frustrated by it sometimes, a bit like me. He thinks ‘why can’t I play well more often?’ But he’s learning now that you can’t always play well, you need the patience to give yourself a chance.”

O’Sullivan admits he has become obsessed with the fine details of technique in recent years, but has been working with psychiatrist Steve Peters to try to free his mind of the search for perfection.

“You never stop tinkering, but I got so deep into that world that I didn’t know how to get out of it,” he said. “I felt like I was getting the yips, I was stabbing at the ball. I was getting scared to go out and play, especially in the big events. There’s a lot of pressure out there and you get tight and feel like you can’t get the cue through. By working with Steve I have learned to cope with not playing great snooker all the time. Hopefully by doing that, the good snooker will come more. If I can clear my mind and not be so hard on myself, maybe I’ll allow myself to play more instinctively.”

INCREDIBLE CLOSING CENTURY

Here are the scores and stats for that match:

And two more videos shared by WST on YouTube

And the post-match interview: