Twenty years on from his death at the age of just 27, three-time Masters champion Paul Hunter remains one of snooker’s most fondly remembered stars.
A charismatic personality and a fearless competitor, the Yorkshireman captivated audiences with his attacking style and remarkable ability to thrive under pressure.
To mark the anniversary of his passing, we look back on his extraordinary career and hear memories from some of the players he competed with.
Hunter’s wins in the Masters came in 2001, 2002 and 2004. His ice-cool ability under pressure is highlighted by the fact he won each of those finals by a 10-9 scoreline. Hunter trailed Fergal O’Brien 7-3 in the 2001 title match, was 5-0 down to Mark Williams in the 2002 final and 7-2 behind against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the 2004 showpiece.
He defeated his best friend Matthew Stevens on his way to victory in 2001, having previously not won a match in the event. The pair were inseparable on the circuit and for Stevens, his loss was felt especially strongly.
Stevens said: “It is so sad. You forget how young he was at 27. Not only the future he had in the game, we lost a special person. No doubt he would have been a World Champion many times. You look at John Higgins and Mark Williams still playing into their 50s and Paul was only 27. He had a massive future in front of him. It is really sad.
“We had one or two late nights. We were quite naughty. When we used to go to China we were pretending to be in bed by 11 but we were still out. It didn’t hold us back too much, but maybe we lost one or two matches we should have won by not going to bed until four or five in the morning. That was part of the fun of life though.
“Those Masters finals were Paul all over. He was a long way behind in a couple of them, but nothing bothered him and he took everything in his stride. From beating me in 2001, when he hated the venue, the tournament is his now and the trophy is named after him. It couldn’t be named after a better person.”
Reflecting on the 2001 final, O’Brien was disappointed not to win, but didn’t begrudge Hunter his moment in the sun and was pleased to have shared the baize with him on one of snooker’s grandest stages.
O’Brien said: “That just typified his character. We saw it again towards the end when he was playing at the Crucible during chemotherapy, it was really sad but he never gave up. It is one thing digging in during a snooker match and never giving up. To keep positive with what was happening to him and the circumstances he faced, you wouldn’t know any of that and it was testament to him.
“He had that bit of star quality and he was box office. That night was so noisy. I can actually remember when the last black went in, saying to myself to wait for the noise. It was thunderous. He was behind in the match, a very popular player and it was so noisy. Even afterwards we were still up talking to each other at six in the morning. They were lovely moments.
“At the time it was devastating. You can look back at pictures of me after the match with a blank look on my face, I was just devastated to lose. It is such a big tournament. It was really disappointing, but any of that has passed now. For me to think anything other than looking back fondly is pure self-indulgence. I’ve seen my daughter grow up, you can lose any tournament but what happened to him was terrible. It was the right result.”
Hunter edged out 1994 Masters champion Alan McManus 6-5 on his way to the 2002 final. Looking back, the Scot believes Hunter’s uncomplicated approach was central to his success on the biggest stages.
“The guy he reminds me of from the current game is Zhao Xintong. He sort of had this thing of being uncomplicated as a player. That is unusual and always has been. I think Paul was quite like that. It never looked like an effort for him to play. That struck me. He always looked like he was really enjoying it. I wish I could have taken a leaf out of that book because for most people it is a big effort. You couldn’t get him under pressure. Nothing seemed to have much of an effect on him,” said McManus.
“It was a massive loss. You never know what is going to happen, but he probably would have gone on to even still be winning now. He’d have looked after himself for sure and because his game was uncomplicated, it would have stood him well. From a snooker point of view, we will never know how much he would have won. It would have been plenty. It changes the history of the game, but he was already a big part of it. To win three Masters titles the way he did, at that age, was bonkers really.“
Hunter’s semi-final opponent in 2004 was the now four-time World Champion John Higgins. Looking back, Higgins believes Hunter reached a market far beyond that of a typical snooker fan.
Higgins said: “I think he was the next one coming after Ronnie. They were even copying hairstyles and different things, I would have loved to have tried that! He is a big miss. He was a good looking boy and he would have transcended the sport in the way O’Sullivan has as well. It is still a sad loss to our game and to a lot of the players that were close to him. I wasn’t necessarily that close to him, but you looked at him as a wee rogue. He was a guy coming in ready to take over your position in the game. He played the game with an attitude of taking the bull by the horns and going for shots.
“It was like having a tiger by the tail. He pulled different shots out and you couldn’t get on top of him. You would try to trap him in certain situations and he would have a clever enough brain to re-trap you. I also played him when he won his first tournament, the Welsh Open. He beat me in the final. He was trying to chap my room later on and get me to the party. I was obviously a bit gutted. He was that type of guy that lived life to the full.
“It is an amazing tribute to have the Masters trophy named after him. I always get emotional when I watch the final and his dad Alan is often there as well. You feel for him every time you see him. I am a father myself now and what his family has had to go through. Each time I see Alan, I give him a big hug and ask him how he is keeping.”
Triple Crown winner Shaun Murphy remembers competing against Hunter while they were coming through the junior and amateur ranks. Reflecting on his career, the Magician is thankful of the contributions Hunter made and believes that he played a huge role in where snooker is today.
“I just remember he was a cut above. When he walked in the room, he had a presence and he carried that through to his professional career,” said two-time Masters winner Murphy.
“Paul became a figurehead. He was extremely handsome and appealed to a different audience than snooker had appealed to before. That never took away from the fact that he was a wonderfully talented professional snooker player. He was a talented junior trying to make it when I first saw him and make it he did. We were lucky to have him and it is right that the Masters trophy now carries his name. We will never forget the contribution he has made to the sport.”
The thoughts of everyone at WST are with Paul’s family and friends on the anniversary of his passing.
I didn’t want to write anything yesterday. The day belonged to those who actually knew and loved Paul 1 and who wanted to share some memories. I’m not one of them. I only started getting interested and involved in snooker in 2015. I only knew/know healthy Paul through press articles and conversations with fellow players.
What I do remember though, and remember vividly, is how well loved he was and how devastating his loss was for so many fellow players and fans. Paul had everything that makes a champion, he had the talent, the game, the temperament … and he had the good looks as a bonus. He was the ideal “poster Boy” for the sport. Many fans then, and still today, say that Paul would have become a World Champion. He certainly had the talent but, of course, there is no guarantee. Fans said the same about Jimmy White …
What I also remember is watching his last match on a very dodgy stream … even with the bad image quality, I could see that he was struggling, that he was in pain. It was heartbreaking and, although he made optimistic noises, I understood how ill he was and had little hope for his future.
Paul’s death hit Matthew Stevens very hard. He was his closest friend on tour, maybe his closest friend in life as well. I always wondered what would have happened, had Paul lived to grow old. I’m not sure he still does, but when I used to be on tour, I couldn’t help to notice how much Matthew drank. Was he like that before? I honestly don’t know. Matthew was a extremely talented player, but he never truly fulfilled his potential. Would he have if life had been kinder to Paul, and, by extension to himself? Possibly. We will never know for sure.
I also remember another young player taken by cancer that same year: Billy O’ Connor. Billy was only 19. He had fought the disease , with extreme courage, for four years. Billy was managed by Django Fung, he was part of the Grove team. Here is the piece written at the time on the Grove web site. Billy was Sean O’Sullivan’s best friend and Sean definitively never recovered from that loss.
And they were many … I don’t think anyone disliked Paul except maybe his beaten opponents and then only for about 5 minutes ↩︎
No, I’m not going to die soon, not unless I have a dramatic accident but …
But … denial has never helped anybody and I don’t want to take that route. Over the last couple of years my memory has worsened considerably. I forget a lot. The fact that we, as a family, had a lot of stress privately certainly contributed to the situation. But now the stress is gone and it’s not improving, quite the opposite. Alzheimer’s disease runs in the family on my mother’s side. She died from it, her mother died from it, and her maternal grandmother as well…
Next week, I will travel to Athens and see a doctor who is one of the very best specialists in the subject. Hopefully, he will at least be able to give me guidance and possibly medications that will slow down the development of the disease. With the population ageing, especially in the south of Europe, the social cost of this disease is very high and that surely is an incentive for authorities to invest in research aiming at finding a cure for it, or, at least, at means to slow down its onset.
I’m not looking for pity, not even for sympathy … but I want you to know that, maybe, I may not be able to maintain this blog for much longer. 💔
Already, I want to thank all of you who read it, took interest in it and contributed to it with comments and suggestions.
Thank you!🙏
For those wondering about the “post featured image”… this cat is/was Mink. she was a stray that we took inside when we understood that she was about giving birth. She was very young and inexperienced. She hadn’t prepared anything. She gave birth in our house. When her kittens were about 3 months old, she disappeared. Never seen again. Likely, she died that day, likely she was poisoned… Two of her kittens survived. Loulou and Lustucru are now 6 years old and live with us.
The 2025 Welsh Open has started this morning but, before we turn our attention to the last of the “Home Nations” events, let’s take stock of what happened last week-end on the amateur scene, as reported by WPBSA.
Liam Highfield defeated Dylan Emery 4-3 to win the seventh and final WPBSA Q Tour Europe event of the season at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall, England.
The victory marks Highfield’s first title on the Q Tour and guarantees his place at the Q Tour Global Play-Offs in Turkey next month where three World Snooker Tour (WST) two-year tour cards will be on offer.
The 34-year-old Englishman, who is aiming for a quick return to the professional circuit after his 14-year unbroken spell came to an end last year, joined the three-day event on the Saturday as one of the 48 seeded cueists at the Landywood Snooker Club.
His campaign began with a tough test against fellow former professional Craig Steadman, who had already reached a Q Tour Europe event final in Sweden earlier in the season. The two players went blow for blow in a high-quality contest but a quartet of half-centuries, including a top break of 92, was enough for Highfield to secure the victory in a decider.
A 4-1 win over fellow countryman Ryan Davies earned Highfield his place in the final day for the fourth time this season and he began the Sunday in style with a whitewash of Josh Thomond to reach the quarter-finals.
Back-to-back 4-2 victories over Kuldesh Johal and Alex Clenshaw, the latter from 2-1 behind, saw Highfield book his place in a Q Tour Europe final for the first time.
Welshman Dylan Emery was his opponent in the title match after he proved to be one of the standout performers across the weekend.
Emery, who won the second Q Tour Europe event of the campaign, compiled the tournament high break of 140 against Anton Kazakov on Saturday evening and followed this up by overcoming former World Snooker Federation champion Ashley Hugill to earn a place in the last eight.
There he faced 14-year-old Shaun Liu, who had provided one of the stories of the event by picking up consecutive victories over former professionals Steven Hallworth and Harvey Chandler.
The Hong Kong China cueist came close to adding another scalp against Emery as he led 3-2 in the best-of-seven frame contest. Emery was able to hold his nerve, however, and take the last two frames before once again showing his battling qualities in the semi-finals to defeat Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko in a decider having trailed 3-1.
It had been a day full of drama and a high standard of snooker at the Landywood Snooker Club and the title match proved to be no different.
In a match that featured a half-century break in every frame, Highfield stormed into a 2-0 lead with breaks of 93 and 69 and then moved one away from victory at 3-1 with a further contribution of 59.
Emery wasn’t going down without a fight, however, and visits of 83 and 87 forced a final frame to decide the victor.
All you want in a decider is a chance and when Highfield’s arrived he took full advantage by hitting a 91 clearance to secure the first Q Tour title of his career.
The 2024/25 WPBSA Q Tour season comes a close next month as the Global Play-Offs are staged in Antalya, Turkey on 11-13 March. Full details will be announced in due course.
Reanne Evans has defeated Mink Nutcharut 4-3 following a dramatic final to regain the Belgian Women’s Open title for the first time since 2019 at the Trickshot in Bruges, Belgium.
Success for Evans represents her second ranking event title of the season following her win at the Women’s Masters last November and is her first outside of the UK in almost six years since the 2019 World Women’s Snooker Championship in Thailand.
Victory in Bruges will also see the 12-time world champion regain third place in the updated world rankings, having been overtaken by Bai Yulu following the recent WSF Women’s Championship in Morocco.
Beaten finalist Mink Nutcharut will remain in top spot following her fourth consecutive final appearance on the WWS Tour – all having come down to a deciding frame – which sees her further extend her lead to second placed Ng On Yee with two events remaining this season.
For Evans the run to the final would not be straightforward as having seen off debutant Diana Khodjaeva in the last 16, she would then defeat home favourite Wendy Jans 3-1 in the quarter-finals, before surviving her first decider against 2020 Belgian Open champion Ng On Yee in the semi-finals.
Mink Nutcharut meanwhile enjoyed relatively smooth passage to the title match as she whitewashed Jaique Ip Wan In, Kamila Khodjaeva and most impressively Anupama Ramachandran, during which she hit back-to-back century breaks of 115 and 107 during the final two frames, becoming the first player to do so in seven years.
It was Nutcharut who would get off to the stronger start during what would prove to be a tension-filled final as she stole the opener with a break of 40, before adding a close-fought second to double her advantage.
The frames would continue to be hard-fought and it was Evans who hit back to level at 2-2, before the next two were shared meaning that for the fourth straight final on the WWS Tour, a final frame decider would be required to settle the title.
Evans would gain the early advantage in the crucial seventh frame, before Nutcharut found herself with a chance to potentially steal and take her third consecutive crown in Bruges. A miss on the final red into the green pocket would ultimately prove costly, however, as Evans made a telling contribution to ultimately clinch the title.
The engrossing final would pull down the curtain on what was a memorable event which saw a number of stories throughout the three days. Notably, talented Belgian duo Diana and Kamila Khodjaeva both impressed in reaching the knockout rounds at their debut event, while 13-year-old Ellise Scott took world number five Rebecca Kenna to a deciding-frame at the last 16 stage. For Kenna, she would find herself on the wrong end of a decider in the next round as she dramatically lost to Anupama Ramachandran on a respotted black.
There was also history made as an incredible break of 138 – the fifth-highest ever on the WWS Tour – by Ng On Yee saw her become only the fourth player ever to reach ten career century breaks, before Mink Nutcharut equalled the feat the following day, with her brace of century breaks during the semi-finals.
Side-Tournaments
There was a second-career Under-21 title for Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul in the junior competition as the 19-year-old defeated Laura Killington, Sophie Nix and first-time finalist Chan Wai Lam of Hong Kong China to add to her previous crown at the Women’s Masters last November.
It would prove to be a fruitful weekend for the youngster who also claimed victory in the Challenge Cup event for players who did not reach the quarter-finals following her 2-0 success against England’s Ellise Scott in the final.
The Seniors competition held on Friday meanwhile saw current number one Tessa Davidson maintain her stranglehold at the top of the rankings with a 2-0 win against first-time finalist Anja Vandenbussche.
As always, World Women’s Snooker would like to thank everyone who contributed to what is always a popular event in Bruges, in particular Olivier Vandenbohede and his team at the Trickshot.
The 2024/25 season continues with the Landywood British Women’s Open from 28-30 March 2025 in Bruges. Enter now via WPBSA SnookerScores.
Note that I cited the last sentence as it was written at the time I copied the text, but the Landiwood British Open is due to be played in Walsall, England, according to WPBSA Snooker scores … not in Bruges as written in the piece above.
Ronnie O’Sullivan reveals new goal after rediscovering snooker enjoyment
Phil Haigh
Ronnie O’Sullivan hopes to keep playing for another 10 years as he says he is enjoying snooker more now than he ever has as a professional.
It has not been a great season so far in terms of results for the Rocket, without a final appearance yet and he has just suffered back-to-back first round exits at the Champion of Champions and UK Championship.
The 49-year-old is still number three in the world rankings after winning two big ranking events last season, so it is not disastrous and he says he has rediscovered some enjoyment in his game over the last few weeks.
Despite winning five tournaments in total last season, O’Sullivan cut a frustrated figure, dissatisfied with how he was playing.
Since working with coach Lee Walker he now feels like he is returning towards his best form and, although the results have not come yet, he is confident they will.
‘The last time I enjoyed playing snooker like I have done the last couple of months was when I was 14,’ said O’Sullivan. ‘I’m actually loving playing.
‘It’s quite weird, I played awful last year and pretty terrible at the start of the year, but I’ve won five tournaments last year, but just not enjoyed playing. Then I took a couple of months off, figured out a couple of things about the game and really enjoying it, loving the game.
‘The last three tournaments I’ve played pretty well, maybe just a little bit too open. I’ve realised that and I’ve worked the last few weeks on trying to tighten up a little bit, trying not to leave so many easy chances.’
Asked how he rated his game in recent times, the seven-time world champion reckoned he had really hit a low.
‘The start of this season and the whole of last season I would say it’s probably about 4 [out of 10]. Really bad. 3? Probably as bad as its ever been.
‘But I played what I felt wasn’t great and won five tournaments. Then I start to play great and can’t win a match. Maybe I’m better off playing terrible if I want to get results.
‘To be honest I always play the long game. My game’s in good shape. As long as I apply myself, little bit of run of the ball, a couple of opponents don’t play so well against you, get on a run, win the tournament, then before you know it you’re back in a good spot.
‘I never panic, I never worry. I’m not really bothered either. If I was bothered I might be worried. I’m not bothered, I know I’m on the back end of my career so it’s less important now. I’m just enjoying it.’
O’Sullivan has flirted with retirement for years, but he says it is now a long way from his mind and intends to keep playing for another decade.
O’Sullivan expects to get on a run again soon (Picture: Getty Images)
Still the sport’s biggest attraction and with business interests and opportunities in Asia and the Middle East, O’Sullivan doesn’t want to see his star power wane.
‘I’ve set a new goal. If I can just stay on the tour – even if I fell off the tour they’d probably give me a wildcard – but I’m enjoying everything about snooker.
‘I just said to Lee Walker, who I’ve been working with, just keep me going for 10 years, keep me enjoying it for 10 years. If I can enjoy it and not get many results I’ll take that, because I’ve had a lot of good results over my career.
‘I don’t have anything to prove, but I definitely don’t want to miss out on the next 10 years because things are quite exciting for me off the table more than it is on the table.
‘It’s a good combination I’ve got at the moment. I still like getting my cue out, people still like to see me play and I still like to think I can put in some good performances, but who knows? Maybe I won’t.’
I suppose that’s the article Mark saw a few days ago. It’s a nice change from the depressed doom and gloom that so often engulfed him. Long may it last. It’s not what us, fans want to see, but we have to be realistic. He’s in his 50th year, he’s given us a lot to enjoy for over 30 years. He deserves “me time”, we shouldn’t be greedy 💖.
Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘can’t be bothered’ playing UK snooker events
By Tom Parsons
Ronnie O’Sullivan has spoken out on his lack of desire to play at some snooker events.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has admitted he ‘can’t be bothered’ to attend some UK snooker events (Image: GETTY)
Ronnie O’Sullivan has admitted he “can’t be bothered” to travel long distances to play at some UK snooker events and has conceded that he would prefer to stay at home instead.
The 49-year-old pulled out of the Scottish Open in Edinburgh earlier this month before travelling to Saudi Arabia to compete in the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.
The Rocket thrashed Ding Junhui 4-0 in his opening match in the Middle East as he took just 49 minutes to complete the rout.
But he missed out on the opportunity to land the £250,000 winning prize pot after being dispatched by eventual champion Mark Allen in the semi-finals.
O’Sullivan has been critical of a number of the UK venues he has had to visit in the past, with some snooker tournaments taking place at leisure centres across the country.
And the seven-time world champion said: “I’m not being harsh, it’s really difficult when you go to a leisure centre.
“You’ve got 50 to 100 people all standing outside. You’ve got to get through that, play a best of seven frames. Then you’re not sure when you’re going to be on. They say you could be on at 8.30pm but you get on at 11pm.
Ronnie O’Sullivan was dumped out of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship by Mark Allen in the week (Image: GETTY)
“It’s a nine-hour journey from my house [in Essex] to Edinburgh. You weigh it all up and think you can’t be bothered. Ten to 15 years ago I’d probably have been fine, but I can’t play every tournament or every week.”
O’Sullivan then admitted he will limit his appearances at tournaments as he added: “I’ll try and play a minimum of 10 and I’ll pick the best 10 to play in.
“After that, if I feel like I need to play in a few more I will. I still want to play snooker but I want to spend time at home as well.
“I enjoy practising at home, going down the club, spending time with friends. I love being on the road as well. But it’s about getting that practice.
“In Saudi Arabia, the events we’ve had there, it’s been brilliant. Food, dressing rooms, shower rooms, loads of practice tables, courtesy cards, it was amazing. Same in China. With these tournaments they have 8 to 10 practice tables.
“Some of the events in the UK, there are 3 to 4 practice tables in a leisure centre, it’s not the easiest. They have bigger budgets in China and Saudi Arabia. Maybe in the UK not so much. They do the best they can with what they’ve got. It is what it is.”
I think it’s a normal evolution in life. As we are getting older, we want, and need, more comfort, more “me time”. Ronnie, more than any other player faces huge demands from the fans wherever he goes. I have witnessed him getting out of the Crucible, very downbeat and disappointed after losing and being met by dozens of fans wanting him to stop for a chat or an autograph. That’s not right. Those players have feelings, usually right after a defeat they only want one thing: they want left alone. For young players all this is new and exciting. For many older players, snooker is a mainly job and if they are not able to do it in a good environment – good conditions and respect of their privacy – it often becomes a burden.
Nothing to report on today just a few pictures as Ronnie was traveling towards Bulgaria yesterday. He will play John Higgins today in Plovdiv and tomorrow in Sofia.
Oleg Velinov has been taking care of the arena and table setup. It looks great.
Meanwhile after leaving Tampere where, at midnight, they had still day light …
… Jason and Ronnie landed in Vienna, where they visited the beautiful city and met the promoter, and friend, Adrian Thijs for dinner … before the thunderstorm struck in the evening!
And now they are on they way to Bulgaria, with Oleg.
Ronnie turns 48 today … where have all those years gone??? I’m older than his mother, he’s not much older than my son … What happened there??? For once he will not be in York, bringing cakes to the media gang. Hopefully he has the best of celebrations with his loved ones. 🥂🎂🫖💝
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN RAISED THE BAR AND SHOWED HE IS ‘SNOOKER’S GREATEST ASSET’ WITH TRIUMPH AT UK CHAMPIONSHIP
BY DAVE HENDON
Eurosport’s Dave Hendon breaks down how Ronnie O’Sullivan showed the world that he is “snooker’s greatest asset”. The world No. 1 made history by becoming the youngest and oldest winner of the UK Championship after he clinched a record-extending eighth title on Sunday. O’Sullivan’s classy performance was too much for Ding Junhui and he lifted the title 30 years after he first won it aged 17.
How many more times can the bar be raised?
Even by Ronnie O’Sullivan’s extraordinary standards, his dash for the winning line to land a record-extending eighth UK Championship title last night was something special.
The crowd inside the Barbican Centre were in awe as O’Sullivan crunched in long pots, exercised perfect positional control and sank ball after ball to move from 7-7 with Ding Junhui to run out a 10-7 winner. The final three frames lasted 32 minutes.
In the blink of an eye, 30 years fell away. We were back at Preston Guild Hall watching the 17 year-old O’Sullivan announce his arrival on the big stage by stunning Stephen Hendry to become the youngest UK champion in 1993.
Now, on the eve of his 48th birthday, he is the oldest. When the audience in York rose to acclaim him, they did so recognising they had witnessed something close to magic, a mercurial burst of inspiration only possible from sport’s true greats.
It means a 40th ranking title, four more than Hendry in second place. O’Sullivan’s eighth UK Championship triumph is one of 22 ‘Triple Crown’ titles to his name. He extends his lead at the head of the rankings. In every possible measure, he is the greatest.
Standing next to him at the trophy celebration was Steve Dawson, the chairman of World Snooker Tour, whose organisation can take credit for an excellent event, well promoted, with record ticket sales and an enjoyable vibe throughout.
But Dawson must surely also realise that WST need to mend relations with O’Sullivan, who is the subject of disciplinary action pertaining to comments he made about exhibition engagements in China and player freedom.
Whoever is right or wrong in that debate, the facts are plain: O’Sullivan is snooker’s greatest asset. We need him playing as much as possible. Off table rows are distractions that we could all do without and it’s doubtful most ordinary fans care about those issues.
What they want is to watch Ronnie play snooker. WST should do everything to ensure he feels able to continue doing that in established tournaments which have meaning, rather than in exhibitions which have little.
O’Sullivan is hardly a blameless character but has more than earned the right to have his say about the sport, how it is run and what he wants to prioritise going forward.
He has become a huge draw in Asia, where promoters are willing to pay for his presence in exhibitions and tournaments. Anyone watching last night’s final will consider this money well spent.
If the weekly grind of tournament life is less to his liking these days, then this is hardly surprising, but it’s clear he still gets himself up for the big occasions. More importantly, he is still capable of thriving in such occasions.
As for O’Sullivan’s week in York, he was not at his brilliant best all through the event, but does not need to be when opponents freeze at the prospect of beating him.
Robert Milkins had three chances to do so in their decider. Zhou Yuelong had him on the ropes at 5-4 but made little impact on the last two frames. Hossein Vafaei had played the snooker of the week going into the semi-finals but wilted in the presence of The Rocket.
This is the aura of greatness which surrounds O’Sullivan. It gives him almost superhuman strength while sending the legs of rivals to jelly. Even when things are going badly wrong, the very fact of who he is, what he has done and what he is capable of makes the difference.
To Ding’s credit, he fought hard and put pressure on. At 7-7, the final was firmly in the balance. He did not do much – if anything – wrong in the closing three frames, which went by in a blur of brilliance.
Ding had to qualify for York but is now back where he belongs, as a member of the top 16 and qualified for the key events coming up in early 2024.
So what is next in the compelling drama that is Ronnie O’Sullivan’s career?
He hasn’t entered this week’s Shoot Out and will possibly skip the Scottish Open to recharge the batteries. He has been invited to a lucrative exhibition event in Macau over Christmas, then it’ll be back for the Masters in January he will face Ding in the first round.
Soon, the drumbeat towards the Crucible, where he will be attempting to win a record eighth world title, will begin.
His great friend and fellow Eurosport pundit, Jimmy White, believes he can get to 10 victories in each triple crown event. Such numbers seem fanciful on paper, but performances like those against Ding make you think again.
It seems every apparent last hurrah is succeeded by another. This remarkable, unique sporting figure just keeps amazing us.
How many more times can the bar be raised? Over to you, Ronnie.
As ever, David tries to express a balanced opinion and present both sides of the story in a fair way. Thank you Dave for that.
The real question for me is this one: why is WST so reliant on the “older” “big names”? Why is there such a culture of nostalgia in snooker? Why do most of their reports or announcements focus on the older players? Why do we still hear about the 85 final all the time? Or about Alex Higgins? Celebrating history is fine, good even, but promotion has to be about the present, the current players, and about the future, the up and coming ones. You will tell me that WST are about “recognisable” names when doing promotion. I get that but those “recognisable” figures will not be around forever and they were unknown rookies when they started. WST need to create “new” recognisable figures and that work has to start when those players are young and not well known yet.
You will tell me “right but how?”. Here are some ideas:
Scrap the qualifiers in flat draw events. Bring everyone at the venue, yes, even in China or Germany.
Have a stream of all tables. The cameras are already there.
Have more events with a tiered format and the type of coverage we get for the World and the UK. Not focusing on one table but hoovering through interesting phases on all tables.
Interview more players “live” and allow them to be themselves. Don’t pander the politically correct brigade. Alex Higgins, Jimmy White, Ronnie … they don’t fit in that mould and that’s why they are talked about and remembered. Times have changed? Maybe, but fundamentally human nature hasn’t.
Adopt a rating system instead of the stupid money list. It will bring a much needed flexibility. For instance, it would allow to organise a “rookies” cup at the start of each season – as Lewis suggested – without distorting the “rankings”. Do it with maximum exposure, in a nice venue, and free admission. Make it something festive and fun. Build the rookies profiles up. Yes. it would cost; it’s called investing in the future.
Ok guys… please come up with your “innovative proposals” … what would YOU want to see?
I’m not a fan of the Shoot-out being ranking in the current system, I wouldn’t object to it if we had a rating system though.It is what it is and I will try to enjoy it.
