So I guess that means that’s us. Thanks for your company and comments – it’s been a blast – and what a day it’s been. Ronnie O’Sullivan is a seven-time champion of the world, he did so after playing a near-perfect tournament, and there’s no reason to think he’s done yet. Whatever else happens in this world, we got to live at the same time as the greatest ever, so let’s drink him in while we can because we’ll never see anyone remotely like him ever again. Peace out – and if anyone’s got any ideas about what to do tomorrow, please do send them in.
Updated
Here’s Aaron Bower’s report from the Cruce.
Ronnie plays to levels others can’t aspire too, says John, Steve is sure he’s got an eighth title in him, and Hazel reminds us that we’ve seen something of generational significance. What a fortnight it’s been!
Ronnie enjoys his lap of honour, while Stephen praises the way he’s taken the game to new heights, saying he’s surprised seven titles took this long. When he equalled Steve’s previous record of six, he knew he had to get one more, and is sure Ronnie feels the same.
Updated
Judd collects his £200k, then Ronnie accepts his £500k and the trophy that goes with it, raising it aloft as the tickertape falls. What a human being he is, and what a joy it is to watch him compete. The love, talent and mongrel it takes to be this good for this long is so baffling, even though what he does is so simple; he’s the greatest snooker player ever, arguably the greatest sportsman ever, and quite possibly the greatest anything ever. Not bad.
Updated
Ronnie says that Judd is already an all-time great, praising his “dynamic snooker”. He calls it his best-ever result, because you can never relax against Judd, though he tried. On the record, he tries not to think about records, just to enjoy working hard at his game and enjoy competing, then returns to Judd noting that he wasn’t at his best and still made the final, musing that he’ll win a fair few of these himself.
On Steve Peters, he says he’s learnt that no one can be perfect all the time and to make the best of what you do because you never know what’s around the corner. He’ still fighting demons, “but I’m here and it’s good”.
Now aged 46, Ronnie is the oldest-ever world champ, and told Stephen is proud to share the record with him, he’s only happy to do that for a year. He thinks the worlds bring out the worst in him, much as he enjoys competing and being around the guys, then Hazel goes for jugular and gets him speaking about his dad and kids ... but tears are forthcoming only from Big Ron. He puts palms together, turns to the crowd, and returns to his kids while his gifts are prepared.
Updated
Judd says he had no hope for this session and congratulates Ronnie, who he says has always been so good to him – something we shouldn’t overlook – and that he’ll go down as the greatest of all-time. He praises Ronnie’s dedication, says he’s been the best player through the tournament, and that he was pleased to make a match out of it today. He was drained from his semi yesterday. it’s a joy for him to be on the table with Ronnie, enjoying his snooker again, and he’s changed his mind: the worlds should stay at the Cruce. You bet they should, old mate.
No she can’t! Ronnie’s kids join him and he’s crying already – who wouldn’t be? My own eyeballs are breaking into their own sweat, because we’ve been waiting half a lifetime for this moment.
Now the question on everybody’s lips: can Hazel make Ronnie cry?
RONNIE O'SULLIVAN BEATS JUDD TRUMP 18-13 TO WIN THE 2022 SNOOKER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AND TO JOIN STEPHEN HENDRY ON SEVEN WORLD TITLES!
Bow down to the greatest! We are privileged to be living in his time, an artist, an animal and a genius! To be this good for this long against this standard of opposition is an achievement so staggering I doubt we ever fully grasp what it means. But for Ronnie it means everything and he embraces a grinning Judd, the two sharing a meaningful conflab of masters. It’s a lovely, moving moment – for them, but for all of us too! What a total hero!
Updated
O'Sullivan 17-13 Trump (60-0)
The reds are nicely spread, the black goes to both pockets, and there’s no one better at navigating these situations. I’d be staggered if he misses from here, so let’s reflect on an absolutely rrrrrrridiculous genius. What’s most impressive these days is the break-building – the ability to work out in what order to remove the balls, and the subtlety to usher them to where he needs them with little touches that no one else conceives of, never mind plays. COME ON RONNIE!
O'Sullivan 17-13 Trump (25-0)
HAVE A LOOK! Left close to the top cushion, Ronnie attempts a cut-back red with no colour looking on ... but he plays a cannon off a red next to the black, liberating it – what a shot that is! – and when it goes down, a seventh world titles is imminent!
O'Sullivan 17-13 Trump (8-0)
Judd has a long look at things, then tries a thin one to left-corner because the pot is all he’s got really. But a kiss off the blue takes the red safe enough ... except nothing’s safe with me Ronnie at the table, and he caresses home a fine one to right corner. That is a pot, all the more so because had he missed, he’d have left everything – despite not finishing on a colour. So it’s back to baulk again, this time with the white not glued to the cushion.
O'Sullivan 17-13 Trump (7-0)
Ronnie nips out of the arena and when he returns, the record beckons! Judd misses a long one – only just but nevertheless – and leaves the ball he went at to left-middle! Ronnie sees it away, a kiss on the blue forces him to send it to the green pocket, and he gets a good enough white to play the red at the bottom of the cluster. Down it goes, but winding up on nowt he repairs to the baulk end to work out where he’d least like to be, then plays into the cushion off the green.
O'Sullivan 17-13 Trump
All Judd can do is keep potting balls, and a run of 109 closes the gap once more. It’s such a shame he wasn’t at it yesterday, but let’s see where he goes from here.
O'Sullivan 17-12 Trump (0-59)
Ronnie foul-misses and when the white ends up behind the green, Judd has a free ball. He uses it to work his way up the table, and from here you expect him to take the frame.
O'Sullivan 17-12 Trump (0-38)
Judd’d like to be higher on the blue – he’s not, so has to force it - and though he still takes care of the pot, he’s on nowt meaning this is end of break, the lead a handy one but far from definitive. .
O'Sullivan 17-12 Trump (0-33)
I keep hammering this point because circumstances are forcing me to: if Judd’s long-potting was where it is now yesterday, he’d be bang in this match. He nails a starter to right corner, adds a black and another red, but a bad contact leaves him with a nasty cut-back on the next black. He drains it nicely and tickles home another red with the rest, then another black, and now comes decision time: he’s on nothing, but dare he send one long to the yellow pocket? You bet he dare, and if the split works well for him – off the blue, so no maxi here – the frame will be at his mercy.
Updated
Off we go again!
“I’m watching the snooker while the support act is on at a gig (Larkin Poe at Manchester Ritz),” says Dave Stainton. “On mute of course I’m not a monster! Anyone else watching when they probably shouldn’t be?”
Er me because my football team are playing, but I’m sure others can do better – there must be hundreds of thousands meant to be revising for exams. “Just one more frame...”
“Ronnie O’Sullivan is a very good snooker player,” advises Robert Wood, who’ll be ecstatic to know that I agree with him. But he’s not just that, he’s perhaps better at snooker than anyone has ever been at anything. He’s Michaelangelo, Mozart and George Eliot rolled into one.
O'Sullivan 17-12 Trump
Ronnie misses a black off the penultimate red, but a 3-1 mini-sesh means he’s a frame away. The damage was done yesterday – had Judd’s long-potting been where it is now, then, we might be talking about a different game – but it wasn’t, we’re not, and what a moment we’ll soon witness.
Updated
O'Sullivan 16-12 Trump (66-1)
Dennis tells us that he spoke to Ronnie when had three world titles and Ronnie told him he’d never get to seven. I daresay he might.
O'Sullivan 16-12 Trump (43-1)
Just when it looks like he’s run out of position, Ronnie caresses a red to the yellow pocket, busts the pack, and history has its eyes on him!
O'Sullivan 16-12 Trump (24-1)
“No cheating or arguing, thankfully,” returns Thomas Jaggers. “We did it properly - always had a ref, waistcoats in the final etc.” I hope someone was in white, like Kirk Stevens. Anyhow, frame 29 begins and Judd really must win it. Three down at the interval and he’s got a chance, but four down with five to play, the jig is up. So he plays a cross-double on the first red – what a shot that is – but hits it too well, reckons Dennis, forced to take on the broon to middle from the baulk cushion. He gets close but not close enough, leaves one, and must now sit and hope. Ronnie, though, plays for the black when the blue looked a better option, tries a double as a shot to nothing, misses and leaves one ... then Judd misses to left-middle by a distance and Ronnie is back in, but with work to do.
O'Sullivan 16-12 Trump
Judd develops a top-cushion red off the black, drains it, and comes back down for the blue then back up for the trick one that was next to it. He can’t see off the final one, but it well ahead by the time he misses it to left corner, and will, at least, make it past the mid-sesh.
O'Sullivan 16-11 Trump (27-35)
Ohhhhhhh! It’s probably come too late for this term, but Judd’s long potting is back with him! He sends a starter to the yellow pocket, comes back up the table, gently rustles the pack off the pink, and is he on one? It’s tight, but I think there’s a red that’ll go to left corner ... there is ... and this is now a crucial visit. There are two reds below the pink and three others on cushions, one on the side and two on the top; this won’t be an easy clearance.
O'Sullivan 16-11 Trump (27-8)
Oh Juddington! Trying to take a red from left side to right corner, he looks to have judges it to perfection ... only for a bad contact to send it rolling off! As Shaun Murphy never tires of telling us, he’s one of few remaining players still using old chalk – there’s a new version that keeps kicks to a minimum – but then Ronnie, trying to nuzzle in behind a red close to right corner and coax it along what remains of the cushion, misses the pot! Can Judd capitalise? Er, no. he splits the pack and winds up on nothing – yesterday’s mazel is back with a vengeance – and off we go again, playing safety.
O'Sullivan 16-11 Trump (21-0)
RONALD ANTONIO O’SULLIVAN! Though he’s not the long-potter hew was at his peak – a skill that has been compensated for and then some by the ever-evolving snooker brain and unreal equanimity – from near the baulk cushion, he sends a starter to right corner like it’s 2004. But just as he’s looking ensconced at the table, he misjudges a positional shot that means the pink sits between him and his desired red. He ponders a swerve and old Ronnie might’ve taken it on, but new Ronnie almost always makes the right tactical call, so it’s back down the table to begin a safety exchange.
Updated
O'Sullivan 16-11 Trump
The record number of tons ever made at the Cruce is 16, held jointly by Stephen and Mark J – and Ronnie if he can pull this off. But he misses green to middle so has to make do with 88, and this is nearly did! Although Judd’s had chances, you can’t argue with the composed way Ronnie has taken his. It’s our privilege to watch him work.
O'Sullivan 15-11 Trump (56-12)
This is a great chance for Ronnie and he looks a different player to this afternoon, calmly eliminating balls. Until today he’d not lost a session in the entirety of the tournament, and what we’re seeing now is a big part of the reason why: potting every ball he should, in the way it should be potted, so he’s ready to do likewise to the next one.
O'Sullivan 15-11 Trump (15-12)
In comms, they again celebrate Peter Ebdon – no longer accompanying Jack Lisowski but in the crowd watching the match – like he’s not a Le Tissier-lite conspiracy theorist. And then Judd not only spanks in a red to left corner but yanks the white all the way back down the table for the blue! That is just ridiculous, cue-power and technique in perfect harmony. But playing for the next colour, he finds himself stuck to and bridging over a right, jawses the black as a consequence, and now Ronnie is profiting from his fine work. This game!
O'Sullivan 15-11 Trump (0-5)
Off Ronnie’s break, Judd considers a four-ball plant, then knucks in a gorgeous long red to left corner ... only to wind up stuck to the blue from on top. That’s the kind of ill luck that afflicted him yesterday but let him be this afternoon ... but then when Ronnie can’t get behind the now-clustered baulk colours – a significant oversight as the target is a big one – he cracks home a starter and that is bad news for Ronnie: his long game hasn’t been great lately, but that’s two he’s nailed just in this frame. Neither matter, though, because on nothing he soon has to play safe and this time, Ronnie’s safety is on-point.
O'Sullivan 15-11 Trump
I said earlier that because he’s so hilariously talented, we forget what a competitor Judd is, and the same’s so of Ronnie. You don’t get to where he is on pure talent – love of the game and and love of the battle are just as important, though don’t attempt the latter two without the former one.
Updated
O'Sullivan 14-11 Trump (82-12)
This is glorious behaviour from TMNTPETPUAC, from that brilliant first red through the penultimate one just cut into the middle at full pelt like it’s nothing. That’s much better than anything we saw from him this afternoon.
O'Sullivan 14-11 Trump (50-12)
“When I was a teenager back in the 80s,” says Thomas Jaggers, “a friend and I organised big snooker competitions with up to 30 of the other lads from our year on the 8x4 table my family had. First to 18 in the final. My mate recorded the theme music off the telly and we’d play it on a cassette deck before each match. Great times! I think the highest break we had in those competitions was around the 80+ mark, but with only 10 reds on a smaller table that wasn’t bad!” Incredible scenes! I can imagine a fair bit of cheating and argument too, if the matches I played with my mates are anything to go by, and in the meantime, Ronnie canes a pink to left-middle, hauls is back off two cushions, lands on a red, and it’ll take something major to halt his march in this frame now.
Updated
O'Sullivan 14-11 Trump (20-12)
“The first three frames are very important for both players, muses Roger Kirkby, “but once they are played, the next three become more important. (I’m trying for a commentary job, do you think I have the insight to make it). No doubt you can do cricket too, and its crucial first hours – though the standard in snooker, on BBC and Eurosport, is really high. Hendry is brilliant, obviously, but Virgo is so good at conveying the tension, while Neal Fouls and Dominic Dale are both excellent on the technical aspects and Uncle Joe Johnson just loves the game so much. Anyhow, Ronnie coaxes home a superb starter to right corner, despatches the blue to the green pocket, just – his gizzard will have bee in his mouth for a moment – then develops a few reds off another blue. He’s not in prime position yet, but he’s not far away, and this might be a crucial run – if Ronnie gets going, there’ll not be loads Judd can do unless he plays as well as he ever has, and nothing we’ve seen of late suggests that form is within his reach.
O'Sullivan 14-11 Trump (0-12)
The first refereeing intervention of the night, the crowd asked to turn down their ear-pieces, and Ronnie’s first safety flicks the blue, offering Judd a nice, inviting starter to right corner. He settles down, then someone’s admonished for what might be a beeping hearing aid, he settles down again, gets away with the rest, and what can he makes of this table? The black is near the side cushion, but after beetling up the table via the green, he screws behind it off the next red, only to find himself stuck on the rail. So though he sends it to left-middle, he can’t hold for position, playing safe back to baulk.
Updated
You can cut the atmosphere with an atmosphere-cutter as the players exchange safes, Judd with a smile, Ronnie with a blank look – both these know what’s up – and Judd breaks off to get us away.
Updated
Boyz; baizing.
I know we hang onto things because nostalgia is a powerful drug, but can you imagine tonight anywhere other than the Cruce? I can’t, and though it’d be nice if the arena was a bit bigger, its intimacy is what gives us the special atmosphere that’s such a crucial part of our game. You just cannot beat it.
Play the music!
What a tune!
Email! “‘Give him a finger and he will take a hand’ is a Dutch expression,” advises Cian O’Mahony, ‘which is regularly used, not only by the darts champion.”
I assumed that as when he said it to me I thought I’d never heard it in English. Tangentially, my favourite MvGism is when he speaks about Raymond van Barneveld, almost always calling him “my fellow countryman” because that’s a sportim constantly trotted out to him.
Hello again, and thanks for joining what will be one of the most momentous sessions of snooker ever played. If that sounds like hyperbole, well, it should be but it isn’t: Ronnie O’Sullivan wins, he joins Stephen Hendry on seven world titles with the prospect of more to come, and if Judd Trump wins, he completes the greatest final comeback of all-time.
Judd won this afternoon’s session 6-2 but most likely, he’ll have to play a lot better than he did then, because his long-potting was still off, the balls ran in his favour, and Ronnie will almost definitely improve. However, he’s more than capable of that, especially with the renewed confidence he now has, but there’s nobody better at closing out a match than Ronnie, and he’s already had his little choke ...or has he?
So sit back, settle in, and take a deep one, because after tonight, things will never be the same again.
So that’s it for the afternoon – join me again at 6.45pm BST, after which we’ll live the staggering denouement.
It’ll be a nasty three hours for Ronnie now, who’ll have known he was a blue Rizla away from history. Ultimately, if you’d said to him at any point during the last year that he’d start the final session of the final 14-11 in front, he’d have been delighted, but he’d absolutely not have taken it this morning. As Michael van Gerwen likes to say, you offer someone a finger, they take your whole hand, and Judd Trump is not a man with whom it’s wise to trifle. Ronnie is still favourite, but he’ll be wondering – like all the rest of us – and both players know it.
O'Sullivan 14-11 Trump
Because of the all the fireworks, we often forget just what a competitor Judd is. But he is very serious indeed, and returns tonight with the match in the balance! I can’t wait it to see it, and whatever happens during it, it’ll be epochal.
O'Sullivan 14-10 Trump (0-76)
Judd eases home a cut-back black to leave Ronnie needing snookers, and secures a 6-2 session win. He’s not played that well but he’s played much better than yesterday, his opponent’s level dropped, and the details have gone his way. He is such a competitor.
O'Sullivan 14-10 Trump (14-45)
A further cannon off the blue ... and this time Judd’s on nowt, forced to screw down the table with a meagre lead given the quality of the chance. Ronnie, though, misses to left corner, and though a felicitous kiss off the pink takes him behind the yellow, he’s at least up in baulk rather than around the blue spot. So Judd takes on a long one, misses by a fortnight ... and a different red finds itself about the middle, rolls around the jaws, and on its final roll, drops! Judd wasn’t even looking at it! And even more than that, the black is now available; might that fluke come to define this match? Judd will surely win take the frame from here, and tonight is going to be an absolute jazzer! This game!
Updated
O'Sullivan 14-10 Trump (0-10)
Not for the first time, Ronnie has fibres protruding from his tip, so gets the lighter out to burn them off. Shortly afterwards, he has a go at one to right corner, misses, and Judd can send it home to the green pocket, via rest. Pink and green are both tied up, but the route to and from the blue is clear, and a nudge into the pack gives him more red options – the first a plant to left corner.
O'Sullivan 14-10 Trump (0-0)
This is the final frame of the afternoon. Should Ronnie win it, he’s nearly there; should Judd win it, things will look very different.
O'Sullivan 14-10 Trump
Eventually, Ronnie gets top-side of the blue, breaks the pack, and though he nearly sends the white into the middle off another blue, the frame is safe by the time he misses a red to left corner. Judd returns needing three snookers, has a go at one then messes the balls. He needs four more for history, and ultimately it’s hard to see Judd winning twice as many before he can pull that off.
Updated
O'Sullivan 13-10 Trump (49-1)
I say that, but actually the pink is stuck to a red and the black is marooned on the side, so this is no gimme, reckless though Judd’s pot was. Thing is, no one can navigate around the table like Ronnie, his cue-ball control and snooker brain the greatest we’ve ever seen. He has a preternatural ability to simplify the complex, picking the right balls to remove in the right order, and though he keeps getting the wrong side of the blue, his shot-making is so good such that it’s yet to matter.
O'Sullivan 13-10 Trump (25-1)
He can’t find, never mind play one, so tries a pot, misses, careers into what remains of the bunch, and Ronnie is like the Blues Brothers in Dixie Square Mall – “this place has got everything!”
O'Sullivan 13-10 Trump (6-1)
If Judd wins this, we’ll be talking about this for evermore, and oh my days! He clatters a starter towards right corner, it scuttles about the jaws, wipes its feet, removes its hobnail boots ... and drops! BUT HAVE AN ABSOLUTE LOOK! Judd misses a black off its spot! This game! So Ronnie resumes, cracks the pack earlier than he needed to, and winds up on nowt! He might try a tricky one to the middle, but as he has all tournament, he takes the sensible option, playing safe to the baulk cushion, and Judd must now conceive of, then play a safety shot that leaves nothing. Good luck old mate!
O'Sullivan 13-10 Trump
Curiouser and curiouser! Ronnie hasn’t lost a session all tournament, but what a clearance that was from Judd, who knew that he couldn’t afford to miss. In co-comms, they wonder why Ronnie didn’t roll the red he missed, because he could always have played a snooker if he couldn’t pot the next ball; pressure! This game!
O'Sullivan 13-9 Trump (51-49)
A poor shot on the final red leaves Judd with a difficult colour, whichever he picks. He opts for blue, a tickled cut to left-middle and here is goes ... the ball slides across the face of the pocket, again it drops when yesterday it might’ve refused, and this is going to be another one off the lead!
O'Sullivan 13-9 Trump (51-34)
But it’s Ronnie who forces the chance, fully committing to a clip to that right corner – though the position of the black means that the last two reds only to to the opposite pocket. AND RONNIE MISSES THE FIRST OF THEM! He tried to punch it in because otherwise he’d not’ve been able to get onto the final red off the black, but what a chance for Judd to steal!
Updated
O'Sullivan 13-9 Trump (46-27)
There are three reds left and the black is close to left corner, taking most of that pocket out of commission; so far, it’s Ronnie controlling the exchange, but Judd is playing well enough not to leave anything.
O'Sullivan 13-9 Trump (46-27)
A terrific red, taken from middle to right corner, sets up the break, and when he splits the pack he attacks it with greater conviction than Judd did, risking more for greater reward ... and with good reason. He liberates various balls, redeems a poor positional shot with a lovely blue to the green pocket ... then gets the wrong side of the blue. Pressure! He so rarely does that, his control of the white better than anyone’s ever, but it leaves him a nasty one to right corner ... and he can’t see it away! The frame is back in the balance!
O'Sullivan 13-9 Trump (16-27)
Catching a red fuller than he intended, Judd needs the spider for the next one and just about sends it down, off the flat of the knuckle – things that didn’t drop for him yesterday are treating him with greater kindness today, but you can only chase for so long and he misses the black. Can Ronnie capitalise?
O'Sullivan 13-9 Trump (16-6)
A poor safety from Ronnie offers Judd a tempter to left-middle, but as JV reminds us, those pockets are notoriously unforgiving. Judd, though, can’t really refuse the opportunity and when he finds the far knuckle, offers Ronnie a chance. His split doesn’t go as planned but he’s just about on one to right-middle ... which he overcuts! Ronnie really isn’t at it today, and when Judd sends a similar ball to the opposite bag, he’s back in amongst it! Goodness me, what might we be about to see?!
Updated
O'Sullivan 13-9 Trump
As the man who discovered three holes in the ground said, “Well well well”. Another one to Judd, and Lisowski tells us that between frames, he went to his mucker’s dressing room but could tell he wasn’t listening to what was being said to him, just eating his donut. There’s a lesson for life there.
O'Sullivan 13-8 Trump (20-51)
Playing a red to right corner, along black cush, Judd flicks the near jaw and watches aghast as it just about wobbles in. But there’s a knock-on effect: the next black leaves him another tricky red, a cut-back, which he drains well, but which takers him down the table. So he tucks in behind the green and Ronnie hits his target ball full, knocking it just about safe; Judd plays an attacking safety shot, adding some jeopardy to Ronnie’s next go by breaking the cluster. And the ruse works! A poor response leaves a long to right corner, Judd clips it home easily enough, and this looks like four out of five to the Ace in the Pack.
O'Sullivan 13-8 Trump (20-13)
It doesn’t go great, leaving a thin cut-back to left corner ... and Ronnie jawses it! With nothing easy on, Judd picks a red to left-centre that’s harder than one to the green pocket because it guarantees position ... and down it goes! With the black available to both corners, if eh works his way back up the business end, which he surely will the frame will shortly be at his mercy!
O'Sullivan 13-8 Trump (14-1)
A poor break from Judd gives Ronnie a chance of a long red; he misses and leaves one for Judd, who under-tickles the black to left corner, handing Ronnie the table! There aren’t many reds at which to pick, so he’ll be into the pack soon enough, and if that works well the lead could soon be back to six.
...and off we go again!
O'Sullivan 13-8 Trump
If you’d offered Judd a 3-1 start, he’d’ve took it, as Ryan Giggs might say – but he’ll be disappointed it wasn’t 4-0. We’ve got ourselves an evening session though, and a repeat of what we’ve just seen would set it up nicely. See you in 15...
O'Sullivan 12-8 Trump (71-45)
There’s a red close to the side cushion that Ronnie needs to develop and he can’t quite find the angle he needs. But chwhat a shot he plays at the last moment, sending the green to right corner, screwing across the table to get in behind it, and floating it across the table into the same, newly-blind bag! That is sensaaaaational, it really is, and not only will it extend his lead back to five frames, but it reminds Judd quite how ridiculous his task it.
Updated
O'Sullivan 12-8 Trump (32-45)
A poor positional shot leaves Judd straight on the black when he needed an angle to get at the next red ... but he eases to left-middle and whether he can win the frame at this visit will depend on what happens when he breaks the pack. He has a go off the black and though it doesn’t quite work out – it was a fine effort – has he created a plant to right-middle? Well, yes and no: he has, but it’s a taxing one and he can’t complete it. This gives Ronnie a chance, and if he can steal at this visit he’ll be relatively happy with life; if he can’t, the pressure will ratchet up another level. This is tense...
O'Sullivan 12-8 Trump (7-22)
Ronnie slides a red to left-middle, the first ball he’s removed in 25 minutes, he’s on the blue, and if the next red goes down he’ll have the black available to both pockets. Usually, that means trouble, but the shot before it is loose, leaving the white close to the side, he jawses the pot, and here comes Judd! His first black is a brute, not because it’s difficult but because screwing across the table onto the only potential red is that and more; he plays is beautifully, splatters the pack, and the mini-sesh whitewash is on!
O'Sullivan 12-8 Trump
Ronnie is the best front-runner snooker has ever seen because if he gets in front, it’s hard to play better than him by enough for long enough to prevent him bringing it home. So though this is a good start for Judd, it’s far from a telling one, and he desperately needs this final frame of the mid-sesh. If he does, we’re got a match on our hands.
O'Sullivan 12-7 Trump (0-75)
This isn’t vintage Judd, his cue-ball control making each pot harder than necessary. But he sticks at his task, and this is shaping up.
O'Sullivan 12-7 Trump (0-42)
Judd can’t though, get position off the next red, so snuggles in behind the green; Ronnie’ll do well to find a red and leave nothing here, missing altogether on his first go and leaving a testing cut-back on his second. Judd sees it away well, sends a pink to right-middle, and from here, this should be another frame clawed back.
O'Sullivan 12-7 Trump (0-24)
Judd needs one more frame to avoid the embarrassment of losing with a session to spare or, put another way, our evening is in your hands, dude. AND HAVE A LOOK! He clacks in a tremendous starter to right corner, a felicitous kiss of the sort that largely missed him yesterday leaves him on the brown, and what can he make of this? With pink blocked and black out of commission, he’ll need to move up and down the table, but he’s doing so very nicely, hitting the middle of the bags. Off the blue, he then breaks the cluster, and it works out OK.
O'Sullivan 12-7 Trump
Do we got ourselves a ball-game? Judd needs at least one of the next two, but he’s feeling his way back and will be feeling much better about life that an hour ago. The confidence isn’t quite there yet, but you can see it building, and with a player as natural as he is, that’s a huge thing. He’ll also have noted the red Ronnie missed early in that last frame – he’s a long way ahead, but he’s also under a lot of pressure, the realisation of his life’s work dangling in front of his eyes.
O'Sullivan 12-6 Trump (25-70)
Ronnie returns to the table needing three snookers with one red remaining, and after a cursory attempt using the green as a screen, he tucks in behind the black, the red near left-middle, and Judd misses, winding up in the pocket. So Ronnie ties to find the same spot off the red, double-kisses it instead, and that’s another frame in the books.
O'Sullivan 12-6 Trump (21-59)
Judd is taking these nicely enough, but when he finishes a little short on a red he’s forced to screw down the table for yellow. He takes it nicely, and the frame is nearly his.
Updated
O'Sullivan 12-6 Trump (21-16)
Ronnie ushers a red to right corner and a friendly cannon gives him a choice of baulk colours – he picks brown – using it to make his way up the table. The table isn’t nicely set, but if he can get the angle he needs off the next red to drop black into right-middle – which of course he does, right in the middle of the circle Dennis Taylor drew on the screen to indicate the necessary position – he’ll be in good shape. But have a look! He misses the next red to left corner, and Judd is back in business!
O'Sullivan 12-6 Trump (8-8)
Ronnie snicks a red and avoids cannoning any of the others, but he promotes a different one towards right corner. I can’t see Judd refusing this, but the red will career into the cluster so if he misses he’s in all sorts and if he doesn’t, what will he be on? He goes for it as he must, and brings the white back through a gap that leaves him a pink to right-middle! Down it goes, but there’s still a lot of work to do for this to become a serious chance, so the next colour – a black to right-corner, sent parallel with the top cushion – is a tester. It’s not as fiendish as the one he despatched in the previous frame but is eminently missable and indeed he does miss it. Left little, Ronnie sinks a starter, without even trying to get position, then plays safe.
O'Sullivan 12-6 Trump (7-0)
With it getting increasingly difficult to find a safety, Judd tries a thin one but catches the pink first; there follows a pause while the ref and assistants figure out how best to replace the balls. Regular readers will be surprised to hear me say this, but I can’t think of a job a hamfisted klutz like me would be worse at than that, and luckily for them Judd tries a different shot second time, so we’re quickly back exchanging safety.
O'Sullivan 12-6 Trump (1-0)
In the box, Stephen is delighted that Judd took on that first black, because though it was high tariff, he badly needed the boost of sinking it. Every journey starts with a single step. But it’s Ronnie in first in frame 19 with a lovely long red, clipped to left corner and it looks like he’s going to cannon the blue too ... but he misses it, just, so on nothing can only restart a safety exchange.
O'Sullivan 12-6 Trump
A blue to the yellow pocket, played righty, raises that elusive ton, and though the black doesn’t drop, Judd retires to his seat with a 106 behind him. He needed that, as a cartoon character whose name escapes me was wont to say after being hit on the head. Can anyone remember who I mean?
Updated
O'Sullivan 12-5 Trump (22-87)
A red to left corner leaves Ronnie needing snookers, but Judd will want more than that – he’s not made a ton in this match yet, and needs to let it be known that he’s “still fighting for this title”.
O'Sullivan 12-5 Trump (22-40)
A gorgeous pink to right-middle, floated at an acute angle and dropping in off the far knuckle, clears the area around the black spot and this is now a terrific chance to clinch the first frame of the day.
O'Sullivan 12-5 Trump (22-24)
Ronnie’s discipline in this competition has been so good – he’s done the correct thing almost every time, even if it goes against his attacking instincts. But a decent safety from Judd has him missing a little snick and the second go hands Judd a chance. Though he takes the opener, he focuses everything on making sure of the pot – that’s a man not entirely confident in his game – but what a black comes next, caressed along the top cushion by snuggling in behind it from above. Can he make it count?
O'Sullivan 12-5 Trump (22-4)
Ronnie leaves the white near the blue spot, somehow leaving nothing, so Judd tries forcing a plant to left corner, getting nowhere near and somehow leaving nothing ... easy. But playing Ronnie in this form and headspace, a tight one to left-middle is soon gliding home, and nothing we’ve seen so far suggests today will be much different to yesterday. Ronnie, though, pots the blue into the yellow pocket only to bring the white back a roll or two too much, the replaces blue covering the reds for which he’d played, so it’s another safety with both players aware that the next of them to get in will have a decent chance of a frame-winning run.
O'Sullivan 12-5 Trump (16-4)
Judd breaks off nicely, forcing Ronnie to play thin off a stray – yes, we’re first-name terms here, what of it? – and he goes in-off, which he won’t mind as there’s no dangling tempter. But there is shortly afterwards, to left corner – no gimme but one Judd should and needs to drain – except he jawses it and already he’s in big trouble as Ronnie accumulates. Except have a look! A misjudged cannon leaves the white stuck to a red in the cluster, so he plays safe back to baulk, a boon for Judd. It’s so rare you see Ronnie lose control of the cue-ball, his deftness about the black spot miles ahead of anyone else’s.
Updated
A wry grin and some dap as he descends the stairs, then here comes Ronnie. The crowd give him loads.
A standing ovation as the boyz prepare to baize. Judd does not look chuffed, at all.
Jack Lisowski loves a shirt unbuttoned with t-shirt underneath; techno’s Steve Davis is in a syoot. It’s on!
Also, a good choice of music for BBC’s opening montage, for this is what we’re doing.
Stephen Hendry is proper champion. None of this “Records are there to be broken, it’ll great for the sport to see Ronnie overtake me”. He’s “slowly coming to terms with it”. On which point, here’s a bit on not only one of the greatest players ever but one of the greatest co-commentators in sport.
These are interesting stats. Essentially, if Ronnie’s at it, good luck beating him – it’s what made Selby’s win so special. In that situation, only he has the ability to sneak enough frames he shouldn’t.
Ronnie O'Sullivan's winning world finals don't tend to be close. Well, apart from the first one anyway.
— Nick Metcalfe (@Nick_Metcalfe) May 1, 2022
18-14 v Higgins in 2001
18-8 v Dott in 2004
18-8 v Carter in 2008
18-11 v Carter in 2012
18-12 v Hawkins in 2013
18-8 v Wilson in 2020#snooker
And here’s something on what makes the world snooker championship so special.
Here’s something on that 2014 final, the first time O’Sullivan lost one and, for my the first time he was properly outplayed once he was fully-formed.
Truth is, watching Trump struggle against Bingham in the last eight, it was near-enough impossible to see him improving enough to win the thing – just as it near-enough impossible to see Higgins improving enough to beat O’Sullivan in the last four. There’s something different about O’Sullivan this term. He’s focused his entire season around becoming world champion, and though he won at the Cruce in 2020, he got a little fortunate to beat Mark Selby in a final-frame semi-final decider then play an exhausted Kyren Wilson in the final. This is the best he’s played in Sheffield since 2014 when he somehow lost the final to Mark Selby, but this time, his day-one superiority is reflected by the overnight score. To begin with, all Trump can do is try and avoid the ignominy of defeat with a session to spare – that hasn’t happened since 1993, when Stephen Hendry whacked Jimmy White 18-5.
Preamble
There’s almost nothing in this world that won’t, at some point, let us down – work, sport, friends, family, government, God. But every year, we can rely on the world snooker championship to bring light, joy and drama.
This term, we’ve had Neil Robertson making a 147 of startling smoothness in front of the mum he’d not seen for two years, and with Judd Trump waiting on the other side of the partition to congratulate him. Trump then beat Anthony McGill in a thriller, while Robertson lost a final-frame decider to Jack Lisowski, finally making good on his enormous potential and with Trump, one of his closest mates, again waiting to share the moment with him.
We’ve also had John Higgins coming back from one down with two to play to beat Lisowski; Trump playing one of the worst mini-sessions of his career before winning eight frames to straight to beat Stuart Bingham; and Ronnie O’Sullivan conjuring an unfathomable, disgraceful clearance of 43, up there with Alex Higgins’ famous 69 in 1982, to steal a frame from Higgins on a respotted black.
But my favourite moment this term was actually a moment: the look shared between Trump and Mark Williams prior to the last frame of their semi-final thriller. Somehow, in a few seconds, they conveyed the respect for what they’d done and what they were going to do; how difficult that is and what it means; how impressed they were with each other and themselves; the bond forged between them through competition, the intimacy of intensity. It was beautiful, moving and, if we’re being real, extremely envy-inducing. What must it feel like to feel like that?
Trump then turned towards the crowd and noised them up, they responded with all the reverence the players deserved, and he clinched a win that seemed inevitable when he finished the first session 7-1 in front, but far less so when he trailed by one with Williams needing just one more to win.
Somehow, Trump needs to find that spirit this afternoon. There’s a feeling known as the overview effect, that some astronauts experience when seeing the world from above, giving them a sense of transcendence and connection which bring with it a renewed sense of perspective and love for humanity. These means are unavailable to most of us, but luckily for us, the consciousness is not: we can watch Ronnie O’Sullivan play snooker.
Though he’s not the tearaway genius of 2004, when he lost just 26 frames in cruising to the title playing better than anyone ever has before, he’s no less a genius for that. His instinctive, intellectual grasp of the best route around a table is elevated by a fresh and calm desperation to equal Stephen Hendry’s record of seven world titles, his 12-5 overnight lead well-earned and almost definitely conclusive.
However, though Trump can’t compete with O’Sullivan’s masterful deployment of nudges, cannons and touches, he remains one of the most devastating potters the game has ever seen and its finest recovery-potter bar none. His performance in 2019, when he trounced Higgins 18-8, is not just the greatest snooker has ever seen but one of the greatest in any final in any any sport, ever, and if he can find that standard or anything close to it today, he can’t be counted out. If he does – and he’s going to have to – we’ll see something we’ll be talking about for as long as we’re talking about anything. And if he doesn’t, we stand on the cusp of history. Here we go!
Play: 1pm
