As the ticker tape began to stream down over Luca Brecel’s head on Monday evening in Sheffield, it was difficult not to see it as symbolising the changing of the guard for snooker. The new world champion certainly navigated his road to victory at the Crucible his own way, with a brand of attacking snooker usually only restricted to one man: Brecel’s hero, Ronnie O’Sullivan.
For years, snooker has relied on O’Sullivan to provide the entertainment. Even now as he approaches 50, O’Sullivan remains the undisputed face of the sport. Inside and outside of the Crucible this year, there were pictures of the seven-time champion of the world everywhere you looked. World Snooker Tour’s media team lined a corridor near the press centre with cuttings from the coverage throughout the tournament: most of them featured O’Sullivan in some format.
