The term living room would probably be a bit of an exaggeration for a place that is 9,200 kilometers as the crow flies from his snooker club in Suffolk. But Ronnie O’Sullivan seems to like something about Shanghai. When the Masters of the world elite of the Main Tour takes place in the southern Chinese metropolis, the billiards crack that is otherwise not keen on traveling is there – whether it is a ranking tournament or, as was the case last week, just a highly prized invitation tournament. And since 2017, the seven-time world champion has known how to prevent a competitor from winning in the end by simply winning every one of his matches there.
However, O’Sullivan’s regiment seems longer than it actually is because the People’s Republic of China refrained from holding tournaments of this type in three Corona years (2020-22). Nevertheless, late on Sunday evening Chinese time, it was extended to the 19th victory in the 19th game since 2017 and the fifth triumph overall, the last four of them in a row. Only this time it had less to do with a somnambulist, safe style of play and more to do with arduous work and rock-hard resilience. Because when a brilliantly gifted artist like O’Sullivan isn’t playing at his best, he too has to be able to work hard. So he has to be Salieri, not Mozart, to somehow hold his own at the green table.
Small, sometimes glaring mistakes
This time there was probably no match in the Grand Stage of this spacious indoor arena for up to 14,500 spectators in which the defending champion could satisfy himself. Again and again, small, sometimes blatant mistakes in positional and match play slowed down his presentation at the green table when he seemed to be gaining momentum. So you saw him with an unusually gloomy expression, although never giving up against well-known opponents, whom he finally defeated with a sudden increase in form: four victorious frames (games) in a row, and the quarter-final against John Higgins was from 2:5 to 6 :5 rotated; another four victorious frames in a row, and Mark Selby was eliminated in the semifinals 10:7.
These were not successes that were apparent early on, not even for him. Basically, he had been looking for top form for a year and a half in vain, the now 47-year-old Brit had even said between games. And a strange-sounding wish was added: Actually, a defeat in which he still feels comfortable in his own skin is more precious to him at this stage than any victory that makes him feel uncomfortable. But he wasn’t redeemed in that sense on Sunday, in the final against Luca Brecel. At the end of a high-class, but similarly changeable duel that ended 11:9, another “silly” victory slipped out of him.
In the prestigious duel between number one (O’Sullivan) and number two in the world rankings, it was the Belgian, who was 19 years younger, who presented the bigger series at the table. On the other hand, O’Sullivan, also known as “The Rocket”, often scored with smaller margins when it was crucial. On the one hand, this secured him the equivalent of around 244,000 euros in prize money and, on the other hand, it stifled a delicate discussion. Otherwise, many would have spoken of a generational change that was imminent in the noble sport – after the “Belgian Bullet” was able to knock the “top dog” in the industry out of the World Cup tournament in the quarter-finals in Sheffield in May.
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Still being there, holding the prominent position: Maybe that’s the real fun these days for the widely celebrated professional who supposedly no longer feels any joy in the game. When a Shanghai Bank representative handed him the enlarged double of his cash check, he grinned mischievously at the TV camera as if he had just pulled off a prank. How much of the self-reports about his inner states are truthful and how much is a strange form of coquetry will probably never be clarified anyway. But who expected that from a notorious enigma?
Perhaps Luca Brecel, with his aggressive game, can in the foreseeable future become the next professional who sets the tone on the Main Tour – similar to what Judd Trump was able to do at times years ago. But O’Sullivan is still the biggest factor, and that’s not the worst news for the World Snooker Tour at the start of the young snooker season. The global premium series is reluctant to forego the potential of the Chinese TV market. This requires familiar faces – also as replacements for local hopefuls, many of whom were banned at the beginning of the year for match-fixing to commit betting fraud. Shanghai apparently needs Ronnie O’Sullivan as much as Ronnie O’Sullivan needs Shanghai.
