Index 2023

INDEX 2023

So, good riddance 2023, you utter shitfest of a year. Whether or not life actually does begin at 40, as the cliché would suggest, it has certainly changed a lot for me in the last 12 months. RIP Dad, I miss you every day and I will always love you.

Nevertheless, it would be churlish not to admit that there have still been some highlights. My lovely niece Maya is growing up fast, always makes me smile and usually makes me laugh like a gargling drain with her antics.

I also loved my trip to Greece (except for the bit when my phone got stolen), my latest Glastonbury Festival renewal (where the Foo Fighters especially were truly epic), yet another visit to Prague (where me and my friends got to have a go at being Pilsner Urquell tapsters), a raucous weekend in Ibiza (except for the bit when my phone got stolen), and I also bimbled around a bit of Germany which I had never previously seen.

Of course, that trip to Germany derived from a serious prolonged upturn in form from my beloved Newcastle United who finished last season in the top four for the first time in 20 years.

But, to be quite honest, even Newcastle United let me down this year in the biggest games of the calendar year at Wembley in February in the Carabao Cup Final - even if the crowd in Trafalgar Square on the night before was epic - and then again against AC Milan at St James Park this month.

There have been various other weekends away in the UK which have captured the imagination: the snooker in Sheffield in April, Nottingham in May to see Team GB regain their place at the top table in international ice hockey, York for Hallowe'en, and another visit to Lindisfarne Festival in September.

Unfortunately, though, I finished the year still partly recovering from a hairline fracture to my ankle sustained at Lindisfarne after the injury suffered several setbacks, although some of them were admittedly self-inflicted.

Additionally, I have spent much of the run-up to Christmas battling an acute bout of the lurgy which has hung around for the last seven weeks and, at times, made me sound like a 40-a-day smoker.

It basically made an already exhausting year just that little bit more difficult to get through - and, despite numerous undoubted highlights, I am afraid this is a year which, for quite some time, I have been desperate to consign to the archives.

For what it's worth, this blog still gets updated with the occasional updates - and, hopefully, 2024 will provide opportunities for some write-ups on a brighter note.

An index of the posts made in 2023 can be found below:

CRICKET
Ashes 2023
16.06  Baz-ball faces its biggest Test of all in Ashes
11.07  Ashes alive after England win Headingley nail-biter
01.08  Broad signs off in style as Ashes series ends drawn
World Cup
05.10  Preview: Confident India hold all the cards
14.11  Not defending anything
19.11  Australia tear down India's cloak of invincibility

FOOTBALL
Season 2022/23
04.05  Haaland breaks goal record to send Man City back top
13.06  Manchester City complete incredible Treble
Season 2023/24
15.08  Manchester City go for four in a row
04.12  Another chance for England at Euro 2024

RUGBY UNION
World Cup
08.09  Preview: C'est le moment... peut-être
04.11  Back-to-back Boks outlast All Blacks

SNOOKER
World Championships
14.04  Snooker finds itself in a terrible fix
01.05  Belgian Bullet slays maximum man Selby

POLITICS
By elections
24.07  Another messy night

PERSONAL
Glastonbury 2023
30.06  There goes My Hero

So, take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind

Down the foggy ruins of time

Far past the frozen leaves

The haunted frightened trees

Out to the windy beach

Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky

With one hand waving free

Silhouetted by the sea

Circled by the circus sands

With all memory and fate

Driven deep beneath the waves

Let me forget about today until tomorrow

Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)

Belgian Bullet Brecel slays maximum man Selby

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

THE CRUCIBLE • 30-APR-01-MAY

[9]

LUCA BRECEL

18-15

MARK SELBY

[2]

1	6-2	• 77-0 (77), 79-39, 90-28 (90), 38-94 (54), 90-23 (67), 71-55, 9-66 (62), 70-6 (70)
2	3-6	• 0-134 (134), 126-14 (99), 12-96 (96), 50-67, 72-4 (72), 67-19 (67), 1-76 (61), 0-147 (147)  48-71
3	6-2	• 113-24 (113), 73-0, 101-35 (101), 141-0 (141), 35-86 (63), 56-78 (MS 54), 119-0 (119),  60-40
4	3-5	• 67-0 (67), 20-78 (78), 36-50, 0-122 (122), 0-81 (50), 0-95 (52), 66-2 (51), 112-0 (112)

LUCA BRECEL withstood a valiant Mark Selby comeback to become the first ever player from mainland Europe to win the World Snooker Championship.

The Belgian Bullet aptly completed his 18-15 victory with a century - but only after Selby had taken five frames on the spin in the final session to move just one behind at 16-15.

Earlier, Selby had made Crucible history with the first ever 147 break in a World Championship Final - and only the 14th ever at the venue.

That total also includes the contribution from Kyren Wilson who made a maximum in his first round match against Ryan Day to take a share of the £55,000 prize.

Surprisingly, though, the Final was played on Brecel's terms for the most part.

The 28-year-old from Dilsen-Stokkem played fluently from the first break-off and led 6-2 at the end of the opening session with runs of 77, 90, 67 and 70.

But, in a sign of things to come, Selby opened the Sunday evening session with a 134 total clearance for the first ton of the contest.

At first, the players merely traded frames and Brecel retained his four-frame advantage at 9-5 with three left before close of play to guarantee himself an overnight lead.

Gradually, though, Selby began to exert his authority with a 61 break to close back to 9-6 - and then, in the 16th frame, came history.

The possibility of a maximum quickly became apparent after Brecel's missed long red to the corner left the four-time champion with plenty of options and the black clear in both corner pockets.

Only one red down the left cushion appeared to be problematic - but, having left it until last, good positioning allowed Selby to get in behind it and roll it in.

From there, the 147 was never in much doubt and Selby himself admitted he felt surprisingly calm about it.

Brecel, for his part, congratulated his opponent graciously with a hug but the Belgian also appeared to have lost some focus.

In the 17th frame, his shot choice, while in keeping with his positive approach, was overly reckless - and Selby took advantage to reduce his deficit to 9-8.

Most observers rapidly made the 39-year-old favourite to complete the comeback on the final day.

After all, the Jester from Leicester previously had won three of his four world titles despite trailing overnight. Yes, Brecel really had appeared to have blown his chance.

Instead, though, a restful night brought the best out of the Bullet as, this time in the opening frame of the session, he shot out of the starting blocks with a century for his first of the match.

Brecel added another frame before back-to-back tons, including a 141 total clearance, stretched his lead out to five for the first time at 13-8.

Selby responded after the interval and won a couple of tighter frames to make it 13-10 - but the Belgian had still yet another century up his sleeve and closed out a thrilling session at 15-10 up.

The final chapter of the 17-day tournament therefore began with Brecel needing just three more frames for the title - and a 67 break in the opener soon reduced that to two.

But Selby was never going to be beaten without a fight - and, following a 78 break in frame 27, he unsurprisingly also took the scrappiest of the match despite needing several visits.

In fairness to Brecel, the Jester then did largely keep his opponent off the table for the next three frames, scoring 298 unanswered points to close the gap to one.

These were ominous signs for Brecel - and, at that late stage, Selby had probably again become favourite.

Indeed, the Jester was also first to get a chance in frame 32 before shocking the Crucible audience by missing a black off the spot.

And, while Brecel could not quite get over the line in a single visit, Selby soon missed a brown to the middle to offer the Belgian an easy restart.

One frame to go - and, with four chances to get it, the weight of pressure suddenly seemed to shift completely away from Brecel's shoulders.

For once, the Bullet kept it pretty simple to land his fifth ton of the day - and, with it, the biggest prize of them all.

Certainly, Brecel is exactly the sort of world champion which snooker needs right now following a difficult few months for the game as a whole.

His relaxed demeanour and down-to-earth nature give him obvious appeal to supporters who have been amused by stories of his off-table partying antics between matches.

On the table, nothing at times seemed safe with the unflustered Brecel regularly attempting doubles, occasional trebles and once even making a quadruple to keep a break going.

But, despite his still relatively young age, the Bullet has actually been a slow burner - and, in fact, he remains the youngest ever Crucible debutant from when he made his bow in 2012 aged 17.

Incredibly, until this year, Brecel had failed to win a single match at the venue in five attempts - though it would be fair to suggest he has now dealt with that particular bugbear over the past fortnight.

Nevertheless, as Brecel himself pointed out, it would have been all so different if he had lost yet again in his first round match against Ricky Walden.

After all, that encounter went all the way to a decider - and, with Brecel then going on to make two brilliant comebacks in his quarter final and semi final matches, he has played the biggest part in this edition of the World Snooker Championship becoming one of the more memorable of recent years.

True, there were not as many centuries this year as there were in 2021 or 2022 - but, in addition to the two maximums, there were four other breaks of 140+.

Remarkably, two of those were just the fifth and sixth 146s ever to be made in Crucible history.

Even more remarkably, the contributions both came from same player, Neil Robertson, in the same mini-session of four frames as he closed out his first round match against debutant Wu Yize.

For sure, the Thunder from Down Under was the highlight of my first ever visit to hallowed Sheffield venue.

Robertson surprisingly could not continue his form and he bowed out in the second round against another debutant Jak Jones.

Shaun Murphy came off the back of a strong season but did not even make it to the Last 16 after losing to Si Jiahui - while Judd Trump was another first round faller, defeated by Anthony McGill.

By contrast, defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan breezed through to the quarter finals, winning a grudge Last 16 match against Hossein Vafaei with a session to spare.

The Rocket then looked to be making light work of Brecel in the last eight - but he promptly collapsed from 10-6 up and lost 13-10 to the eventual champion.

At least Mark Allen made good on his promising season to reach his first Crucible semi final for 14 years.

In a torturous encounter against Selby, though, the Pistol was silenced as his more experienced opponent bogged the match down with a series of lengthy frames.

The semi final eventually finished 17-15 to Selby after more than 13 hours of play which continued in the final session until just before 1am on Sunday morning.

Conversely, the other semi final between Brecel and Si was simply a joy to watch with both players willing to throw caution to the wind in pursuit of victory.

Coincidentally, that match also ended 17-15 in Brecel's favour after the Belgian made a record-breaking comeback from 14-5 down by winning 11 frames on the bounce.

But the similarities between the two semi finals began and ended with the final score.

Ultimately, though, it was Brecel who made the biggest impression of all at this World Championship - and there can be no doubt either that he will have celebrated this one long and hard into the night.

CENTURIES  90
147 Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby
146 Neil Robertson (2)
143 Ali Carter
141 Luca Brecel
138 Neil Robertson, Jak Jones

137 John Higgins, Mark Allen

136 John Higgins

134 Ding Junhui, Stuart Bingham, John Higgins, Mark Selby
133 Pang Junxu, Kyren Wilson

132 Si Jiahui
131 Gary Wilson, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy

130 Noppon Saengkham, Anthony McGill

128 John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Luca Brecel
126 Mark Allen

125 Si Jiahui

124 John Higgins, Anthony McGill, Jak Jones

123 Matthew Selt, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby
122 Fan Zhengyi, Hossein Vafaei, Jak Jones, Si Jiahui, Mark Selby
121 David Gilbert

120 Kyren Wilson, Si Jiahui, Shaun Murphy

119 Anthony McGill, Jack Lisowski, Luca Brecel
118 Mark Williams
117 Hossen Vafaei, Luca Brecel

116 Ronnie O'Sullivan

114 John Higgins

113 Mark Williams, Luca Brecel (2)

112 Anthony McGill, Mark Selby (2), Luca Brecel (2)

110 Fan Zhengyi, Mark Selby, Anthony McGill

109 Gary Wilson, Mark Selby
108 Stuart Bingham, Kyren Wilson, Luca Brecel
107 Wu Yize (2), Ronnie O'Sullivan

106 Si Jiahui

105 Si Jiahui

103 Luca Brecel, Stuart Bingham, Si Jiahui, Mark Selby (2)

102 Jack Lisowski, Kyren Wilson, Shaun Murphy, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Si Jiahui

101 Mark Allen, Luca Brecel
100 Neil Robertson, Jak Jones (2), Luca Brecel, Mark Selby

Snooker finds itself in a terrible fix

SNOOKER will attempt to emerge from the shadow of a match-fixing crisis currently engulfing the game with the start of the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

In a dispiriting series of events, the governing body - the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) - suspended 10 Chinese players between October and January for a range of offences related to match-fixing.

These players included the 2021 UK Championship winner Zhao Xintong, who would have otherwise been ranked in the top 16, and the 2021 Masters champion Yan Bingtao.

Also suspended were Lu Ning, Li Hang, Zhao Jianbo, Bai Langning, Chang Bingyu, Zhang Jiankang, Chen Zifan, and Liang Wenbo.

Liang was never a particularly popular player on tour and is a convicted domestic abuser off the table - and, at the age of 36, the former UK Championship finalist is by far the most experienced of the cohort.

The much younger Chang posted a lengthy, now-deleted message on Chinese microblogging website Weibo, in which he accused Liang of making threatening telephone calls on the morning of a match ordering him to lose 4-1.

Chang duly lost by that exact scoreline to Jamie Jones at the Last 32 stage of the British Open in September.

Of course, there is the distinct possibility that some or all of the suspended players have acted under duress from a much wider mafia-led betting syndicate in the Far East.

After all, these young Chinese players are a long way from home on a tour which has not been able to return to their homeland since before the COVID-19 pandemic first erupted there three years ago.

As such, they can be considered particularly vulnerable to becoming victims of exploitation, perhaps even to extent that their lives or the lives of their family members back in China have been threatened.

Certainly, it is noticeable that top Chinese player Ding Junhui is not involved - and it is possible that his big reputation and career earnings have insulated him from the external pressures faced by his compatriots.

In the opinion of world number one, Ronnie O'Sullivan, snooker is in “the worst place it has ever been” with discontent on the tour on a range of issues beyond the match-fixing crisis, including the reduced calendar and prize money available since the pandemic.

O'Sullivan said: “We are playing for the winner gets £80,000 most weeks and the runner-up gets £35,000. It’s bang in trouble.

“Mark Allen has done well this year, Judd Trump did well a couple of years before that. A few others do alright. But for the rest, there is nothing there."

For their part, a World Snooker spokesperson provided the following response: "Post-COVID, we are committed to returning to China in 2023 and optimistic about that prospect."

However, it is unclear the extent to which the suspension of the 10 Chinese players has affected the dynamic of any negotiations with tournament organisers in China.

For the record, it is important to note that, at the time of writing, the players concerned have not been found to have broken any rules and remain suspended pending the result of an independent disciplinary tribunal.

Nevertheless, WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson has stated explicitly that the governing body has moved away from being merely in an investigatory position to acting now in the role of prosecution, and that each player has some sort of case to answer.

Last month, there was another bombshell as tour veteran Mark King was suspended amid allegations of irregular betting patterns during his 4-0 defeat to Joe Perry in the first round of the Welsh Open in February.

King has previously spoken publicly about his attendance at Gamblers Anonymous meetings to cope with his gambling addiction - but it is always possible that he has fallen into the trap of old habits.

Onto the draw - and defending champion O'Sullivan begins the tournament as favourite, as usual.

However, the seven-time winner had to withdraw from the World Snooker Tour Classic last month with a recurring elbow injury which needed hospital treatment - and he has played just 14 matches in 2023.

Indeed, it may be that O'Sullivan will have to wait another year for a record eighth world title - that is, if it comes at all.

Trump is another player scratching around for form - the Masters champion has featured in only one final in ranking events this season, losing a decider in the World Grand Prix to Allen.

Notably, the 33-year-old Bristolian also received a difficult draw against 2020 semi finalist Anthony McGill.

Instead, the in-form players during the 2022-23 campaign have been Allen, who also won the UK Championship and the Northern Irish Open, and 2005 winner Shaun Murphy.

The Magician warmed up for the big event by reaching the final of the Welsh Open before winning the Players Championship and the Tour Championship, all in the last couple of months.

But victory at the Crucible has never gone to the winner of the Tour Championship since that event was introduced to the calendar in 2019.

Meanwhile, the Pistol has only ever played a single semi final at the World Championship - and that was all the way back in 2009.

Experience counts for a lot at the Crucible with multi-session matches played over a marathon period of 17 days.

Therefore, it is difficult to look past the likes of four-time winners John Higgins and Mark Selby, both of whom are in the same quarter, and three-time champion Mark Williams.

Higgins's last world title was back in 2011 - but the Scot was runner-up three years in a row between 2017 and 2019, and he was in bullish mood ahead of this year's competition.

"People might think I'm a little bit deluded but I do think I've got one big one left in me," Higgins said.

At the other end of the scale, this year's World Championship features five debutants: Welshman Jak Jones, who faces Ali Carter, as well as a quartet of fresh Chinese faces - Pang Junxu, Fan Zhengyi, Wu Yize, and Si Jiahui.

Interestingly, Si already has history with his opponent Murphy after defeating the fourth seed in the first round of the 2021 UK Championship as a teenage amateur.

Following that match, Murphy stormed: "Amateur players should not be permitted to compete in professional tournaments" - even though he had entered the qualifiers of the Open golf as an amateur in 2019.

Elsewhere, among the players making their bow, Pang has drawn what promises to be a memorable encounter for him against O'Sullivan, while Fan and teenager Wu take on Allen and Australian left-hander Neil Robertson respectively.

Finally, Geordie snooker fans can feast upon a Tyneside derby between Wallsend-born 15th seed Gary Wilson and Elliot Slessor of Gateshead.

Wilson, who had a surprise run to the semi finals in 2019, had never previously been seeded for the Crucible - while Slessor will be making only his second appearance.

So this could be a cagey encounter then, especially as it will be played between two close friends - although hopefully it will prove to be a better match than that.

After all, it would be fair to say that snooker desperately needs some classic contests over the next two-and-a-bit weeks following the news of the last few months.

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP

CRUCIBLE THEATRE, SHEFFIELD

15 April-1 May

		FIRST ROUND		Best of 19 frames
	[1]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10-7	Pang Junxu
	[16]	Ding Junhui	6-10	Hossein Vafaei
	[9]	Luca Brecel	10-9	Ricky Walden
	[8]	Mark Williams	10-5	Jimmy Robertson
	[5]	Judd Trump	6-10	Anthony McGill
	[12]	Jack Lisowski	10-7	Noppon Saengkham
	[13]	Robert Milkins	10-9	Joe Perry
	[4]	Shaun Murphy	9-10	Si Jiahui
	[3]	Mark Allen	10-5	Fan Zhengyi
	[14]	Stuart Bingham	10-4	David Gilbert
	[11]	Ali Carter	6-10	Jak Jones
	[6]	Neil Robertson	10-3	Wu Yize
	[7]	Kyren Wilson	10-5	Ryan Day
	[10]	John Higgins	10-3	David Grace
	[15]	Gary Wilson	10-8	Elliot Slessor
	[2]	Mark Selby	10-8	Matthew Selt
		LAST 16		Best of 25 frames
	[1]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	13-2	Hossein Vafaei
	[9]	Luca Brecel	13-11	Mark Williams	[8]
		Anthony McGill	13-8	Jack Lisowski	[12]
	[13]	Robert Milkins	7-13	Si Jiahui
	[3]	Mark Allen	13-4	Stuart Bingham	[14]
		Jak Jones	13-7	Neil Robertson	[6]
	[7]	Kyren Wilson	2-13	John Higgins	[10]
	[15]	Gary Wilson	7-13	Mark Selby	[2]
		QUARTER FINALS		Best of 25 frames
	[1]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10-13	Luca Brecel	[9]
		Anthony McGill	12-13	Si Jiahui
	[3]	Mark Allen	13-10	Jak Jones
	[10]	John Higgins	7-13	Mark Selby	[2]
		SEMI FINALS		Best of 33 frames
	[9]	Luca Brecel	17-15	Si Jiahui
	[3]	Mark Allen	15-17	Mark Selby	[2]

Ronnie O'Sullivan - the greatest showman in snooker

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
THE CRUCIBLE • 1-2 MAY
[2] RONNIE O'SULLIVAN 18-13 JUDD TRUMP [4]

[1]	5-3	Sun 1pm 0-98 (72), 120-0 (120), 78-1 (68), 73-66 (JT 52) 62-13, 105-4 (105), 0-98 (97), 50-79
[2]	7-2	Sun 7pm 36-100 (73), 117-7 (66, 50), 122-9 (118) 107-15 (97), 77-0, 94-26 (87), 4-80 (80), 79-0 (60), 88-33 (88)
[3]	2-6	Mon 1pm 22-115 (107), 25-90 (59), 0-81, 71-45 (64), 20-66, 51-60, 68-1 (55), 0-126 (105)
[4]	4-2	Mon 7pm 82-12 (82), 88-12 (88), 27-72 (64), 91-1 (75), 0-151 (109), 93-0 (85)

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN joined Stephen Hendry on a record seven World Snooker Championship titles with a scintillating performance against Judd Trump at the Crucible.

O'Sullivan beat Trump 18-13 to go level with Hendry, and one world title clear of Steve Davis and Ray Reardon. At the age of 46, the Rocket also became the oldest Crucible champion ahead of former mentor Reardon.

"I think it meant more to him [Hendry] than me to have seven world titles but we will share it," O'Sullivan said.

"Hendry is an absolute legend of the game. It is just a number - I do not get too caught up in that."

Nevertheless, it was an extremely emotional O'Sullivan who picked up the trophy on Monday night, having first made time to give Trump a huge bear-hug and words of encouragement.

Trump, for his part, admitted that he had left himself with far too much to do after the first day of the contest at the end of which he found himself 12-5 down.

The 32-year-old Bristolian, appearing in his third world final, took the first frame of the match - but, ultimately, that would be the last time he led.

O'Sullivan responded immediately in the second frame with a 120 break and then took advantage of some sloppy Trump play to stride into a 5-1 lead.

In an early critical moment, the Rocket won the fourth on a re-spotted black with a cocked-hat double after having needed a snooker.

But, somehow, the opening session ended with Trump recovering to trail only 5-3 - while the Rocket was rocked after receiving an official warning from match referee Olivier Marteel.

It remains unclear what exactly happened at the end of the eighth frame after O'Sullivan ran out of position and failed to get out of a self-imposed snooker.

However, the Chigwell man has previously expressed his displeasure at his mistakes by making lewd gestures - although, on this occasion, he vehemently protested his innocence.

There had been an earlier minor flash-point in the third frame when Marteel failed to re-spot the cue ball correctly so that it unquestionably had a material impact on the options available to O'Sullivan.

But the incident at the end of the first afternoon made for altogether far more uncomfortable viewing - and the Rocket walked out of the arena without shaking hands with Marteel.

At the start of the second session on Sunday night, O'Sullivan did shake hands with the official, and the friction from the end of the afternoon thankfully appeared to dissipate.

Still, it made for interesting footage for the producers with whom O'Sullivan has agreed to make a Netflix-style documentary...

Back to the snooker - and Trump again took the first frame to reduce arrears further to 5-4.

From then on, though, O'Sullivan preyed on Trump's evident discomfort to achieve an ultimately unassailable advantage.

The Rocket took the 10th frame after a bad Trump error in the balls, won the 11th with a century break, and took the 12th after Trump messed up another big chance by missing a black off the spot.

In an error-strewn 13th frame, immediately after the mid-session interval, O'Sullivan again got the better of the early exchanges against an increasingly-forlorn Trump whose game was "in tatters", according to Hendry on BBC commentary duties.

O'Sullivan also took the 14th with an 87 break - and so it was to the great credit to Trump that he made a run of 80 in the 15th frame to stop the rot.

The last two frames of the session went to form, though - O'Sullivan took the 16th following an extremely unfortunate in-off by Trump with cue ball deflecting off a red into the pocket.

And, while he was nowhere near as unlucky as that in the 17th, it will have felt just as agonising for Trump to lose after he had again got in first.

Resuming on the second day, there was a fairly widespread anticipation that O'Sullivan might win with a session spare, given Trump's struggles.

Instead, the Ace produced by far his best snooker of the Final, bookending the session with century breaks of 107 and 105, and taking six of the eight frames to close back to 14-11.

This Final had finally sparked into life - and now at least it was on the baize.

All eyes again were on O'Sullivan ahead of the evening denouement - from the talk of winning with a session to spare, suddenly a momentous Trump comeback was on the cards.

The doubts about O'Sullivan did not last for long, though - and, at the final mid-session interval, he had extended his lead back to five frames at 17-12 with a trio of half-century breaks.

On each occasion, O'Sullivan appeared to be in with a good chance of a 16th ton at the Championship, which would have equalled a Crucible record held by Hendry and Mark Williams, only to break down with the frame already won.

Nevertheless, the Rocket still made three centuries in a largely free-flowing Final - including his 200th at the Crucible in the second frame.

Trump also made three tons, including a 109 in frame 30 which, coincidentally, set a new record of 109 centuries at this World Snooker Championship, one more than in 2021.

That effort pulled the score back to 17-13 - but, with still so much breathing room, there was no way that O'Sullivan was going to be denied.

In the 31st frame, the Rocket worked an opening by forcing Trump to play a containing safety shot which left a chance on a red along the cushion.

It was Trump's last shot of the Championship, as O'Sullivan then triumphantly breezed to a break of 85 to charge over the finish line amid a jubilant atmosphere.

Pertinently, in the evening mid-session interval, the BBC had shown an excellent feature about success and failure, something which O'Sullivan especially has had to deal with throughout his career.

Of course, he would be the first to admit he has failed to act in an appropriate manner in some of the situations in which he has found himself.

Nevertheless, for many years now, he has been acknowledged as the most talented player to have picked up a cue - the greatest of all time, if you like.

The difference now is that, whether he actually really cares about the numbers or not, O'Sullivan finally has the seven world titles with which to prove it.

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP
THE CRUCIBLE THEATRE

FIRST ROUND [Best of 19 frames]

	[1]	Mark Selby	10-7	Jamie Jones
	[16]	Yan Bingtao	10-6	Chris Wakelin
	[9]	Barry Hawkins	7-10	Jackson Page
	[8]	Mark Williams	10-3	Michael White

	[5]	Kyren Wilson	10-8	Ding Junhui
	[12]	Stuart Bingham	10-5	Lyu Haotian
	[13]	Anthony McGill	10-7	Liam Highfield
	[4]	Judd Trump	10-4	Hossein Vafaei

	[3]	Neil Robertson	10-5	Ashley Hugill
	[14]	Jack Lisowski	10-8	Matthew Stevens
	[11]	Luca Brecel	5-10	Noppon Saengkham
	[6]	John Higgins	10-7	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

	[7]	Zhao Xintong	10-2	Jamie Clarke
	[10]	Shaun Murphy	8-10	Stephen Maguire
	[15]	Mark Allen	10-7	Scott Donaldson
	[2]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10-5	David Gilbert

SECOND ROUND [Best of 25 frames]

	[1]	Mark Selby	10-13	Yan Bingtao	[16]
		Jackson Page	3-13	Mark Williams	[8]
	[5]	Kyren Wilson	9-13	Stuart Bingham	[12]
	[13]	Anthony McGill	11-13	Judd Trump	[4]

	[3]	Neil Robertson	12-13	Jack Lisowski	[14]
		Noppon Saengkham	7-13	John Higgins	[6]
	[7]	Zhao Xintong	9-13	Stephen Maguire
	[15]	Mark Allen	4-13	Ronnie O'Sullivan	[2]

QUARTER FINALS [Best of 25 frames]

	[16]	Yan Bingtao	11-13	Mark Williams	[8]
	[12]	Stuart Bingham	8-13	Judd Trump	[4]
	[14]	Jack Lisowski	12-13	John Higgins	[6]
		Stephen Maguire	5-13	Ronnie O'Sullivan	[2]

SEMI FINALS [Best of 33 frames]

	[8]	Mark Williams	16-17	Judd Trump	[4]
	[6]	John Higgins	11-17	Ronnie O'Sullivan	[2]

CENTURIES 109
147 Neil Robertson 

140 Stuart Bingham
138 Mark Williams (2)

137 Mark Selby, Jack Lisowski, Mark Williams (2)

136 Zhao Xintong
135 Jackson Page, Mark Williams

134 Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan

132 Neil Robertson, Mark Selby
131 Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson
130 Shaun Murphy, Chris Wakelin

129 Mark Selby, Anthony McGill

128 Jackson Page, John Higgins

127 Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, Noppon Saengkham
126 Kyren Wilson, Ronnie O'Sullivan
125 Mark Williams, John Higgins
124 Anthony McGill
123 Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins
122 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ding Junhui, Jack Lisowski

121 Mark Williams (3), Hossein Vafaei, Ronnie O'Sullivan
120 Judd Trump, Ronnie O'Sullivan

119 Jack Lisowski, Mark Williams
117 Mark Williams, Ding Junhui, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson

116 Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan
114 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Judd Trump

113 Judd Trump
112 Yan Bingtao, Noppon Saengkham
110 Mark Williams, Noppon Saengkham, Ding Junhui, Mark Allen, Judd Trump
109 Zhao Xintong, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Allen, Neil Robertson (2), Luca Brecel, Judd Trump

108 Matthew Stevens
107 Mark Allen, Stephen Maguire, Judd Trump, Ronnie O'Sullivan

106 John Higgins, Yan Bingtao, Jack Lisowski, Anthony McGill, Mark Williams, Stuart Bingham
105 Judd Trump (3), John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan
104 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Yan Bingtao, Stuart Bingham
103 Zhao Xintong, Lyu Haotian, Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Yan Bingtao, John Higgins
102 Jackson Page Stephen Maguire, Yan Bingtao (2)
101 Kyren Wilson, Yan Bingtao, Ronnie O'Sullivan
100 Yan Bingtao, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins (2), Jack Lisowski, Judd Trump

Days of Thunder at the Crucible

NEIL ROBERTSON will carry the tag of favourite as the World Snooker Championship begins tomorrow morning at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

The Australian left-hander won his only world crown way back in 2010 - but enters the tournament in red-hot form after winning the English Open, Players Championship and the longer-format Tour Championship this season.

Indeed, Robertson's array of triumphs have left some pundits collectively scratching their heads at just why he has not had more success at the Crucible.

Altogether, the 40-year-old has won six Triple Crown events - with three victories in the UK Championship and two Masters titles in addition to his 2010 triumph in Sheffield.

Furthermore, the Thunder from Down Under has an unmatched record on the circuit of having won a major pro-title in every calendar year going back to 2006.

So, what can possibly explain his extremely modest World Championship record which shows just one appearance in the semi finals in the last 11 years?

In an actual fact, part of the reasoning was provided by Robertson himself in an interview last year - namely, that the Crucible Theatre, for all of its legend, is far from his favourite venue.

"I don’t like the venue, from a technical point of view it’s very difficult for me to walk into my shot properly, it’s actually almost impossible to do," said Robertson.

"To get to the one-table set-up I need to negotiate that and it’s something that I have to work on.

"Whether it’s change my technique slightly so I’m not always backing into those walls. I know a lot of players don’t like the set-up, it’s very cramped."

Taking this account - and, especially considering the gruelling format has a pre-requisite of a more positive mindset than that, it would suggest that his position as favourite is rather misplaced.

Nevertheless, the Aussie should have enough to deal with Crucible debutant Ashley Hugill, ranked 77 in the world - and, indeed, should have enough to make it to the quarter finals where he is slated to meet John Higgins.

The two other players on debut, Jackson Page and Hossein Vafaei, face Barry Hawkins and Judd Trump respectively - but, otherwise, the 16 successful qualifiers feature an array of players who know their way around a snooker table in a South Yorkshire theatre.

Michael White, for instance, takes on fellow Welshman - three-time champion Mark Williams - while officially classed as an amateur even though he is, in fact, a two-time ranking event winner who spent 12 years on tour, and was once ranked inside the top 16.

For the record, White and Williams are part of a cohort of six Welsh players, with the Red Dragon also represented by Page, Jamie Jones, Matthew Stevens, and Jamie Clarke.

Carmarthen man Stevens brings with him plenty of Crucible experience after no fewer than 17 previous appearances, including runs all the way to the Final in 2000 and 2005 - so could present Jack Lisowski with a strong challenge.

Meanwhile, Clarke - in taking on Chinese protégé Zhao Xintong - will be undoubtedly indebted to his previous visit to Sheffield in 2020 when he beat Mark Allen before losing a tense match against Anthony McGill in a decider.

On that note, the runner-up from last year, 2005 champion Shaun Murphy, resumes his rivalry with Stephen Maguire in probably the spiciest of the 16 ties.

Back in 2004, in a match eventually won by Maguire, the Scotsman realised he had forgotten to bring his chalk with him so he asked the referee for permission to leave the arena.

Murphy spoke to the referee while Maguire was away, the tournament director was summoned, and Maguire was docked a frame for not being ready to start at the scheduled time.

Most recently, Maguire beat Murphy 5-4 in the 2021 Welsh Open quarter finals - and it would be fair to say that the friction between the pair has not completely gone away.

Elsewhere, Ronnie O'Sullivan will be happy, for once, if he can go under the radar somewhat as he resumes his quest for a record-equalling seventh world crown with a tough match against the Angry Farmer, David Gilbert, who reached the semi finals in 2019.

Kyren Wilson, the 2020 finalist, must overcome former world number one - the great Chinese underachiever Ding Junhui - whose best result was runner-up in 2016.

And four-time champion Higgins faces Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - with fellow Thai talent, Noppon Saengkham, taking on Belgian hopeful Luca Brecel in the same section of the draw.

In total, nine different nationalities will be represented at this World Championship - with the Iranian, Vafaei, increasing the all-time Crucible number to 20.

Already, Snooker Shoot Out champion Vafaei has stirred the pot a little by suggesting the Rocket, O’Sullivan, should retire and let the younger generation grow snooker.

The Prince of Persia told the Metro newspaper: "I don’t want to get involved in that kind of conversation really. I like him a lot, I am his fan, I love what he does but sometimes he’s disrespectful, he’s not good for the game."

All of this has made good copy for the journalists in the build-up - but it would take both players to go all the way to the Final on the May Day Bank Holiday for them to meet so it is difficult to see this one going too much further.

Of course, it would be wrong not to mention defending champion Mark Selby anywhere in this write-up.

The Jester from Leicester has struggled throughout the 2021-22 campaign with only one semi final appearance in the World Grand Prix coming back in December.

More worryingly, excluding two wins in the points-based Snooker Shoot Out, the troubled four-time winner has only won two other matches since the turn of the year.

Nevertheless, this long-form competition of multiple sessions will always be a Selby speciality.

Now, the 38-year-old - however talented he actually is - will never be a Crucible fan favourite.

His nickname almost makes a mockery of nominative determinism as he churns out the frames - painfully at times, having even carried on with five snookers required.

But, while out-of-form and out-of-match practice at the moment, Selby could easily use these favoured longer games to play himself scratchily back into shape.

Live match coverage on BBC Two/BBC Four and Eurosport.

Obdurate Selby grinds down doughty Murphy

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
THE CRUCIBLE • 2-3 MAY
[4] MARK SELBY 18-15 SHAUN MURPHY [7]

[1]	3-5	Sun 1pm 49-57, 46-67, 68-65 (65 SM), 89-7 (89), 0-75 (75), 66-1, 8-71 (64), 54-80 (52 SM)
[2]	7-2	Sun 7pm 85-49 (85), 0-98 (98), 72-34 (67), 107-0 (86), 34-97 (64), 109-0 (57), 90-34 (90), 88-4, 69-26
[3]	4-4	Mon 1pm 4-84 (77), 69-58 (62), 41-69, 134-0 (107), 104-14 (54, 50), 1-100 (100), 0-108 (56), 131-0 (62, 69)
[4]	4-4	Mon 7pm 70-28 (66), 48-73, 108-0 (68), 11-79 (58), 120-0 (120), 0-100 (100), 8-126 (103), 71-57

MARK SELBY held off a valiant attempt at a comeback by Shaun Murphy to win a fourth world snooker title at the Crucible on Bank Holiday Monday.

Resuming the second day of the Final trailing by three frames at 10-7 down, Murphy made a quick start with a 77 break to win the 18th. 

Murphy also looked like adding the 19th to close the gap to just one after getting a snooker on the final blue before fluking it and getting the better of a safety battle on the pink. 

Agonisingly, though, the black - rolled dead-weight towards the pocket - stayed out and in the jaws, allowing Selby to clip it in and win the frame. 

In fairness to Murphy, he did well to recover immediately from that disappointment by taking the 20th frame before Selby produced the first century of the contest in the next with a well-taken 107.

The ton meant that the first four frames of the day had been split - and that, at 12-9, Murphy had failed to make any sort of in-roads into the granite Selby lead. 

For sure, Harlow potter Murphy had tried to make headway in front of a boisterous capacity crowd at the Crucible - but putting a series of frames together was proving difficult for the 2005 champion.

Instead, it was Selby who threatened to pull away when he took the 22nd frame to stretch his lead to four for the first time. 

Murphy responded to that with his first century of the match - and took the next frame as well - to set up a mammoth last segment of the session. 

Selby knew he was guaranteed a lead heading into the evening - but the two possible scores, 13-12 and 14-11, would look and feel rather different. 

Ultimately, Selby ensured he departed the afternoon still holding the three-frame advantage with which he had entered it, as two long reds set up breaks of 62 and 69. 

In the first and third frames of the evening, the Leicester man twice opened his lead back to four, only for Murphy to strike back immediately on both occasions. 

Nevertheless, Selby was well aware that if the players merely continued to exchange frames in the way that they were, he would get over the finish line first. 

In the fifth frame of the night, and 30th in the match, Selby went four clear for a fourth time with a 120 break to put himself just a single frame away from a fourth world title. 

But Murphy - who had already belied a complete lack of form heading into the tournament by getting to the Final - was not about to go down without a fight. 

A quick-fire 100 break was followed by a brilliant 110 as Murphy cleared up to make the 108th century of the championships, a total which easily surpassed the previous best of 100 in 2019.

Better still for Murphy, Selby had finally started to show some nerves - he had snatched at a long red to allow Murphy in for the second of those centuries. 

At 17-15 with the time ticking beyond 10pm, the crowd sensed there may still yet be a finish to match the Crucible drama of years long since past. 

But a scrappy 33rd frame suited Selby down to the ground - and, though Murphy had the first opportunity at a difficult final red, he again left it in the jaws of the pocket. 

Selby cleared up to restore a three-frame margin yet again - except this time there would be no further chances for Murphy to catch up. 

In the end, Murphy only lost one of the four sessions - but he lost it badly, going down 7-2 on Sunday night to leave him with his overnight deficit. 

And, even the first session, which Murphy actually won 5-3, will be the lingering source of irritation for him. 

After all, the Magician had managed to get an ideal start by taking the first two frames of the match - and, though both players demonstrated some impressive long potting and safety play, neither of them were at their best among the balls in the early stages.

Murphy really needed to have built up a bigger lead over a slack Selby that afternoon - but, at just two behind, the latter could make sure the evening session was played on his own terms. 

By the mid-session interval, Murphy's early lead had been swallowed up - and, after the players returned, Selby was in his element, bogging frames down and taking the last four of the night. 

The last two of those were particularly painful to watch with Selby regularly taking 90 seconds per shot, and sometimes over two minutes. 

Selby had already been warned by the match referee for taking too long on his shots when he used well over three minutes to line up an effort in his semi final victory over Stuart Bingham.

And it is not as if this is an unusual occurrence with Selby. 

Ronnie O'Sullivan often has good reason to refer to Selby as the Torturer - and he once took over six minutes to make a shot in a match against John Higgins in the 2019 Northern Ireland Open. 

For context, O'Sullivan compiled his famous maximum break at the Crucible in 1997 in a time of five minutes 20 seconds. 

Returning to the semi final against Bingham - and, unsurprisingly, Selby's decision to carry on when needing five snookers in the last frame of the Friday evening session also caused a fair deal of opprobrium. 

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Selby v Bingham contest became the first Crucible semi final to fail to be completed inside the four scheduled sessions. 

For sure, it came across as a case of sour grapes from Bingham when he suggested some of the play from Selby was on the verge of gamesmanship - but the Essex potter is certainly not alone in holding that opinion. 

Of course, Selby did not deserve to be heckled and booed during his walk-on in the Final - and the complexities of snooker mean that it will always attract a variety of different styles. 

The truth is, though, that Selby could win the next three World Snooker Championships at the Crucible to go level with Stephen Hendry on seven - and he still would not be a particularly fondly regarded player.

In fairness, it is not something which appears to bother him too much - indeed, he seems to revel in bogging matches down.

But, at a time when the appeal of snooker to future generations is being openly questioned by world number one Judd Trump, a sustained period of Selby success could prove fatal to the long-term prospects of the game. 

Certainly, beating Selby on the baize is a difficult task. Unfortunately for snooker, watching Selby on the baize is immeasurably harder still. 

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
THE CRUCIBLE • EARLIER RESULTS

FIRST ROUND [Best of 19 frames]

	[1]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10-4	Mark Joyce
	[16]	Anthony McGill	10-5	Ricky Walden
	[9]	Ding Junhui	9-10	Stuart Bingham
	[8]	Stephen Maguire	4-10	Jamie Jones

	[5]	John Higgins	10-7	Tian Pengfei
	[12]	Mark Williams	10-4	Sam Craigie
	[13]	Mark Allen	10-2	Lyu Haotian
	[4]	Mark Selby	10-1	Kurt Maflin

	[3]	Neil Robertson	10-3	Liang Wenbo
	[14]	Jack Lisowski	10-9	Ali Carter
	[11]	Barry Hawkins	10-3	Matthew Selt
	[6]	Kyren Wilson	10-8	Gary Wilson

	[7]	Shaun Murphy	10-7	Mark Davis
	[10]	Yan Bingtao	10-6	Martin Gould
	[15]	David Gilbert	10-4	Chris Wakelin
	[2]	Judd Trump	10-4	Liam Highfield

SECOND ROUND [Best of 25 frames]

	[1]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	12-13	Anthony McGill	[16]
		Stuart Bingham	13-6	Jamie Jones
	[5]	John Higgins	7-13	Mark Williams	[12]
	[13]	Mark Allen	7-13	Mark Selby	[4]

	[3]	Neil Robertson	13-9	Jack Lisowski	[14]
	[11]	Barry Hawkins	10-13	Kyren Wilson	[6]
	[7]	Shaun Murphy	13-7	Yan Bingtao	[10]
	[15]	David Gilbert	8-13	Judd Trump	[2]

QUARTER FINALS [Best of 25 frames]

	[16]	Anthony McGill	12-13	Stuart Bingham
	[12]	Mark Williams	3-13	Mark Selby	[4]
	[3]	Neil Robertson	8-13	Kyren Wilson	[6]
	[7]	Shaun Murphy	13-11	Judd Trump	[2]

SEMI FINALS [Best of 33 frames] 

		Stuart Bingham	15-17	Mark Selby	[4]
	[6]	Kyren Wilson	12-17	Shaun Murphy	[7]

CENTURIES (108)
144 Shaun Murphy
142 Mark Selby
139 Kyren Wilson, Mark Allen
138 Liam Highfield, Ronnie O'Sullivan
137 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Barry Hawkins, Neil Robertson
136 Anthony McGill
135 John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby
134 Mark Selby (3)
133 Kyren Wilson
132 David Gilbert, Mark Selby (2)
131 Stuart Bingham (2), Shaun Murphy, Kyren Wilson
130 Yan Bingtao, Anthony McGill (2)
129 Stuart Bingham
127 John Higgins, Stuart Bingham, Kyren Wilson
126 Liang Wenbo, Barry Hawkins, Anthony McGill (2), Neil Robertson (2)
125 Stuart Bingham, Mark Selby
124 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy
123 Barry Hawkins
122 Stuart Bingham
121 Jack Lisowski, Jamie Jones, Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson
120 Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby
119 Anthony McGill, Kyren Wilson, Stuart Bingham
117 Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy
116 Yan Bingtao, Mark Allen, Judd Trump, Jack Lisowski
115 Kyren Wilson
114 Judd Trump
113 Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, John Higgins
112 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ricky Walden
111 David Gilbert, Tian Pengfei, Mark Williams, Judd Trump (2)
110 Neil Robertson, Kyren Wilson
109 Martin Gould, Shaun Murphy
108 Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, Stuart Bingham
107 Kyren Wilson, Barry Hawkins, John Higgins, Judd Trump, Mark Selby
106 Anthony McGill
105 Ricky Walden, Ding Junhui, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Anthony McGill, Judd Trump (2), Neil Robertson
104 Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy
103 Shaun Murphy
102 Mark Allen, Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson, Stuart Bingham
101 Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Yan Bingtao
100 David Gilbert, Neil Robertson (2), Yan Bingtao, Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy (2)

Live coverage provided by BBC and Eurosport

Trump targets second World Snooker title

WORLD number one Judd Trump has to wait until Tuesday afternoon to begin his quest for a second World Snooker title against Liam Highfield at the Crucible.

Second seed Trump won the world title two years ago, beating John Higgins 18-9 in the Final, to fulfil years of promise, the first spark of which came back in 2011 when he was beaten 18-15 in the Final by Higgins.

Last year, though, the tournament - which was delayed until August by the coronavirus pandemic - was won by the familiar face of Ronnie O'Sullivan.

The Rocket clocked up his sixth world title to rank alongside Ray Reardon and Steve Davis, and sit just one behind all-time record holder Stephen Hendry.

Of course, Trump - at the age of 31 - has plenty of time yet to win a few more Crucible crowns himself, and he heads into the tournament having won 11 ranking events in the 23 months since his world title.

Unsurprisingly then, the Bristolian starts off as favourite with the bookmakers - and he has expressed his delight at the gradual return of crowds to the Crucible.

Matches at the Sheffield venue will be one-third full as part of a government pilot on the roadmap out of the lockdown in England.

Meanwhile, there are plans for a capacity crowd to be able to attend the Final on May Bank Holiday weekend.

"You miss the coughing and the mobile phones going off," Trump said following the draw on Thursday.

"When you are losing and you get a frame or two behind, it is so much easier to give up because you feel nobody is there to see it.

"When you've got a crowd you sometimes take a toilet break just to get the roar of the fans and get them calling your name to get you back in the game.

"I need the fans there just to bring out the best in me. Just adding more nerves and excitement helps my concentration."

Defending champion, and previously a perennial favourite for the title, number one seed O'Sullivan is at the top of the draw in the opposite half to Trump.

O'Sullivan has already had enough in his locker to deal with snooker journeyman Mark Joyce who, after qualifying at the 18th attempt, was one of only two debutants this year alongside Sam Craigie.

Geordie lad Craigie faces another of the famous Class of 92 in Mark Williams while the third of that remarkable cohort, Higgins, takes on Tian Pengfei, one of five Chinese players in the draw.

Higgins and Williams could meet in the Last 16 with the winner potentially going onto meet O'Sullivan in the semi finals. 

However, three-time winner Mark Selby is in the same quarter of the draw as the Wizard from Wishaw and the Welsh Potting Machine, and so will no doubt have plenty to say about that.

Among the qualifiers, 2015 champion Stuart Bingham will fancy his chances against Ding Junhui who has never won the biggest prize in snooker, and twice runner-up Ali Carter has a good chance against the inconsistent Jack Lisowski.

For sure, there have been a number of big shocks over the years - and there are always a few seeds who are defeated unexpectedly. 

But a strong pedigree at the Crucible generally counts for something as players are required to cope with matches of multiple sessions in a far longer format than in other tournaments across the season.

On that basis, the hugely underrated Barry Hawkins can be expected to have another good run in Sheffield having reached at least the last four stage on five occasions out of six between 2013 and 2018.

The Hawk also heads to the Crucible in decent form with three semi final appearances in ranking events. 

However, the last four is clearly a stage beyond which Hawkins struggles to progress, something with which a bullish Trump has no such trouble.

"I feel my game is there for another win," said Trump. "It is such a long time, 17 days, that you can't peak for every single game.

"You've got to be mentally prepared to go through hell to win the tournament."

Index 2020

FOOTBALL
Coronavirus
21.03  Match postponed
18.06  Return of the match
2019/20 season
26.06  Patient Liverpool end 30-year title wait
23.07  Liverpool lift trophy as Villa hunt down "crazy" Hornets
24.08  The longest season
2020/21 season
12.09  Premier League preview: Know your place
15.11  Euro 2020+1: Scotland end long finals wait to set up Wembley clash

OTHER
Cricket
28.01  Youthful England rejuvenate Test prospects
26.08  Anderson and Broad reach landmark totals in rainy summer
Snooker
31.07  Trump takes on the Crucible Curse
16.08  Rocket races to sixth world title
Formula One
05.07  Champion Hamilton chases down Schumacher record
US Politics
08.11  Biden rebuilds Blue Wall as Trump cries foul play
Index
31.12  Index 2020

Rocket races to sixth world title

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
CRUCIBLE THEATRE, SHEFFIELD

[8]

Kyren Wilson

8-18

Ronnie O'Sullivan

[6]

1 2-6 0-81 (56), 62-55, 0-80 (80), 23-75 (75), 67-13 (63), 9-69, 17-106 (106), 49-60
2 5-4 53-61 (KW 53), 19-77 (51), 92-0 (92), 79-53 (KW 50), 82-25, 86-0 (58), 17-82, 101-0 (100), 60-68
3 1-7 74-0 (73), 15-113 (53), 33-109 (61), 17-88 (57), 12-65 (60), 28-71 (71), 15-72 (72), 7-69
4 0-1 1-104 (96)

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN ran away with the final of the World Snooker Championships to seal a sixth title - and he now stands just one short of all-time Crucible leader Stephen Hendry.

The Rocket won 18-8 against Kyren Wilson to go level in the record books on six alongside Steve Davis and his former coach Ray Reardon. 

For his part, Wilson was making his first appearance in this showpiece final - but, in fairness to him, far more experienced players would have similarly wilted in the face of O'Sullivan's onslaught in the third session. 

Oddly, the second day of the final began with high hopes of a close match - and Wilson took the opening frame of the third session with a break of 73 to close the gap to 10-8.

That was quite some achievement for the Warrior, considering he had trailed 8-2 early on - and, at 10-8, O'Sullivan could have been forgiven for being consumed by self-doubt, despite his lead. 

After all, the Rocket had complained about the struggles with his cue action throughout the tournament and he fidgeted regularly with his cue during the second session while Wilson was chipping away at the lead.

Certainly, there would have been long odds offered at 10-8 on the 28-year-old from Kettering failing to win another frame in the match - but, incredibly, that is exactly what transpired. 

O'Sullivan was still not in top gear by his own ridiculous standards but - in the third session - six consecutive half centuries extended his advantage to an impregnable 16-8.

Wilson was a goner - and, at the end of the 24th frame, he picked up his extension and asked match referee Marcus Eckardt if it was the end of the session. 

Unfortunately for Wilson, there was still another frame of pain to go in the afternoon - and, inevitably, O'Sullivan took it to make it 17-8.

The final session of the tournament therefore began without any semblance of tension and in fact lasted just 11 minutes as O'Sullivan confirmed his complete dominance with a closing break of 98, only narrowly missing out on a century.

Wilson was left to rue several missed opportunities on the first day when O'Sullivan stole some unlikely frames despite feeling unsure of himself.

Both the last frame of the first session and the first frame of the second session were won by the Rocket on the black - while Wilson also had the chance to close to 9-8 overnight but missed a straightforward red.

So, it easily could have been 10-7 in reverse if Wilson had taken those chances - and, if that had been the case, it seems unlikely that O'Sullivan would have dominated the second day in the way he did.

But competitions are not played on a hypothetical basis, something to which the Warrior can attest following his incredible semi final against Anthony McGill.

Wilson trailed 6-2, led 14-11, and trailed again 16-15 in the first-to-17 encounter - but forced a decider which went on to become perhaps the craziest frame ever played.

McGill got in first and was extremely unfortunate to make just 39 after smashing into the pack of reds and being left with a tough shot to the right-centre.

Wilson responded with 47 before missing a far easier red to the left-centre - but was saved by the final red which was tight to the left cushion. 

And so, the madness began. 

The Warrior controlled the early safety exchanges with McGill in-off twice before a beauty of a shot from Wilson left his Scottish opponent in all sorts of bother. 

McGill was left behind a full-ball snooker with the cue ball between the left-centre jaw and the yellow which was off its spot. The last remaining red ball was positioned towards the right-corner pocket, which itself had been blocked by the black.

Ultimately, the qualifier - playing off two cushions - missed the red on seven occasions and potted the black with another attempt to concede 35 points in fouls and leave himself needing a snooker.

However, McGill got the snooker straightaway when Wilson - in trying to put his opponent back in the same position - instead went in-off in the left-centre pocket.

Bizarrely, Wilson then went in-off in the right-centre pocket with his very next shot to gift another four points to McGill. 

Yet still, the next big chance fell to the Warrior with the red now precariously close to the right-centre. 

Unfortunately for Wilson, though, it was not close enough to knock in from the baulk cushion and the obstinate ball was merely left even nearer to the jaw of the pocket following his attempt. 

The two players then played almost identical shots off the baulk rail but both missed the red altogether to trade fouls and leave the frame score standing at 94-64 to Wilson. 

McGill eventually got the shot right and potted the black over the pocket as well as the yellow - but then snookered himself behind the pink when on the green.

The Scotsman escaped but, having accrued so many points through fouls, Wilson needed just the green to leave his opponent once again needing a snooker. 

Wilson duly potted the green following another high-quality prolonged exchange of safety - and only then through an outrageous fluke.

Intending to play another safety shot, Wilson instead knocked the ball off three cushions around baulk and up the table into the top-left pocket. 

Unsurprisingly, it had all got too much - and a clearly emotional Wilson had to compose himself in his seat before taking on his next shot, another safety on the brown.

McGill - needing a snooker - potted brown and blue before making several reasonable attempts with only pink and black remaining.

It was, quite frankly, a hopeless pursuit - but the frame had been so mind-boggling, it was surely worth a go.

Eventually, though, Wilson sank the pink to close out the longest frame of the 2020 World Championships and, more importantly, put an end to the most incredible decider ever seen to make it into the final.

 

The final frame score stood at 103-83 - an aggregate of 186 points which, unsurprisingly, is a Crucible record.

As if that was not enough drama, O'Sullivan's semi final match against three-time champion Mark Selby - later in the same day - also went into a deciding frame. 

The Rocket had done well to get that far having been 13-9 and 16-14 down - and was reduced simply to smacking the cue ball on occasions, most notably when trying to hit a pink nestled behind the black in the 30th frame. 

But a brilliant 138 break from O'Sullivan in the next prompted a run of three straight frames to which Selby had no reply - except, that is, for a severe case of sour grapes.

“I just felt like it was obviously a bit disrespectful to me and the game,” Selby said afterwards.

“Obviously if you are playing anybody else, there’s not many players who will get down and just hit them 100 miles per hour when you put them in a snooker.

“Sometimes they will try and work it out, try and play safe or try and get you in trouble back but I just felt he was doing that throughout the match really."

 

As usual, that was not the only time the Rocket ruffled some feathers in the 17 days in Sheffield.

Earlier, in his post-match interview after beating Ding Junhui in the second round, O'Sullivan claimed he would need to "lose an arm and a leg" to fall out of the top 50.

 

The comments were condemned by some former and current players including Mark Williams who O'Sullivan went on to beat 13-10 in the quarter finals after trailing 6-2.

 

But O'Sullivan would have felt justified in his view if he had seen much of a dreadful contest between McGill and Welsh debutant Jamie Clarke.

At one stage, a boxing match seemed more likely to break out than a snooker match with the pair coming close to blows over an accusation by McGill that Clarke was standing in his eyeline.

Clarke, at the time, was 7-2 up and went 8-2 ahead in the frame immediately following the stand-off.

Inadvisably, though, the Llanelli youngster appeared to pile undue pressure on himself by taking to Twitter at the mid-session interval and at the end of the second session, and - coincidentally - he went on to lose to McGill in a decider.

Of course, it would be harsh to judge the quality of these Championships on the basis of a single second round match - and, elsewhere, there was plenty of quality stuff on the baize.

 

John Higgins completed a 147 for his first maximum in Sheffield - and the first by anyone in eight years - but still then lost 13-11 in his second round the match to qualifier Kurt Maflin.

Meanwhile, defending champion Judd Trump fell victim to the Crucible Curse which, for the past 43 years, has dictated that no first-time winner at the venue has gone on to retain the title.

More annoyingly still for him, the Bristolian went out in the quarter finals against eventual runner-up and sworn enemy Wilson.

 

Perhaps the final thought in this piece should go out to the legion of snooker fans, of which a limited number eventually got to watch the action live at the venue itself.

 

Supporters had also been allowed to attend the opening day - a move which led to the withdrawal of asthmatic Anthony Hamilton and met with criticism from O'Sullivan.

But, while that was quickly ended in any case by a change in government guidance, the decision to allow the public back into the Crucible for the final appeared to be managed well and felt justified.

Sadly, it was not a classic - but O'Sullivan will not care a jot - and nor, indeed, will Wilson eventually, if he learns the lessons from his incredible last few days on the baize.

 

THE PANTHEON OF CHAMPIONS
OPEN ERA (1969-PRESENT)

7 Stephen HENDRY - 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999
6 Ray REARDON - 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978
6 Steve DAVIS - 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989
6 Ronnie O'SULLIVAN - 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020
4 John HIGGINS - 1998, 2007, 2009, 2011
3 Mark J WILLIAMS - 2000, 2003, 2018
3 Mark SELBY - 2014, 2016, 2017
3 John SPENCER - 1969, 1971, 1977
2 Alex HIGGINS - 1972, 1982

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP 2020
THE FULL RESULTS

FIRST ROUND

Seed		(19)
[1]	Judd Trump	10-8	Tom Ford
[16]	Yan Bingtao	10-7	Elliot Slessor
[9]	Stephen Maguire	3-10	Martin Gould
[8]	Kyren Wilson	w/o	Anthony Hamilton
[5]	John Higgins	10-5	Matthew Stevens
[12]	David Gilbert	8-10	Kurt Maflin
[13]	Jack Lisowski	9-10	Anthony McGill
[4]	Mark Allen	8-10	Jamie Clarke
[3]	Mark Williams	10-5	Alan McManus
[14]	Stuart Bingham	10-7	Ashley Carty
[11]	Ding Junhui	10-9	Mark King
[6]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10-1	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
[7]	Mark Selby	10-6	Jordan Brown
[10]	Shaun Murphy	4-10	Noppon Saengkham
[15]	Barry Hawkins	10-2	Alexander Ursenbacher
[2]	Neil Robertson	10-5	Liang Wenbo

SECOND ROUND

Seed		(25)
[1]	Judd Trump	13-11	Yan Bingtao	[16]
	Martin Gould	9-13	Kyren Wilson	[8]
[5]	John Higgins	11-13	Kurt Maflin
	Anthony McGill	13-12	Jamie Clarke
[3]	Mark Williams	13-11	Stuart Bingham	[14]
[11]	Ding Junhui	10-13	Ronnie O'Sullivan	[6]
[7]	Mark Selby	13-12	Noppon Saengkham
[15]	Barry Hawkins	9-13	Neil Robertson	[2]

QUARTER FINALS

Seed		(25)
[1]	Judd Trump	9-13	Kyren Wilson	[8]
	Kurt Maflin	10-13	Anthony McGill
[3]	Mark Williams	10-13	Ronnie O'Sullivan	[6]
[7]	Mark Selby	13-7	Neil Robertson	[2]

SEMI FINALS

Seed		(33)
[8]	Kyren Wilson	17-16	Anthony McGill
[6]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	17-16	Mark Selby	[7]

CENTURIES (79)

147 JOHN HIGGINS
140 Tom Ford, Neil Robertson

138 Matthew Stevens, Ronnie O'Sullivan

136 Jamie Clarke, Mark Allen, Anthony McGill

133 Yan Bingtao, Ronnie O'Sullivan

132 Neil Robertson

131 Judd Trump, David Gilbert

130 Yan Bingtao, Mark Williams

129 Martin Gould

127 Judd Trump
125 Ding Junhui

124 Kurt Maflin, Mark Selby

123 Elliot Slessor

122 Neil Robertson, Mark Allen, Noppon Saengkham, Anthony McGill

120 Mark Selby

119 Ding Junhui, Yan Bingtao, Mark Selby

118 Ashley Carty, Ding Junhui

117 Barry Hawkins, Ronnie O'Sullivan

116 Kyren Wilson (2)

115 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stuart Bingham

114 Ronnie O'Sullivan

113 Liang Wenbo, Kyren Wilson

112 Ronnie O'Sullivan

111 Mark King, Barry Hawkins

109 Stuart Bingham, Kyren Wilson

107 Jack Lisowski

106 Ronnie O'Sullivan

105 Alan McManus, Kurt Maflin, Mark Allen (2), Noppon Saengkham, Neil Robertson, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Kyren Wilson

104 Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Mark Allen, Barry Hawkins, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Kyren Wilson

103 Martin Gould (3)

102 David Gilbert, Jack Lisowski, Kurt Maflin, Mark Selby

101 Kurt Maflin, Ronnie O'Sullivan (3), Shaun Murphy, John Higgins, Ding Junhui

100 Martin Gould, Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson (2)