Players Championship: The reason Ronnie O’Sullivan’s Whitewash Defeat against Mark Selby could motivate Snooker to reach the top before it’s too late

Players Championship: The reason Ronnie O’Sullivan’s Whitewash Defeat against Mark Selby could motivate Snooker to reach the top before it’s too late.

In the 2012 Masters quarterfinal match, Ronnie O’Sullivan fell to Judd Trump 6-2, and it seemed that many of his detractors were eager to pen his obituary.

It is remembered that when this argument was brought up to the 1984 Masters victor Jimmy White, he quickly dismissed such soundbites and encouraged O’Sullivan to make a full recovery in time for the 36th World Championship in Sheffield.

“Obviously, you observe O’Sullivan,” the Whirlwind of historic London town remarked. “You can never predict what he will do. He can be amazing one moment. He is the most naturally talented player I have ever seen, but right now Trump is beating him up. Thus, everything is fine for the game.

Ronnie is taking it well. I know O’Sullivan, and he will be out to put this all right by the World Championship.”

White’s prediction was about as accurate as Back to the Future’s Marty McFly heading for the bookies after picking up a copy of the old Sports Almanac.

A month after the Masters at Ally Pally, O’Sullivan set about making amends.

He ended a three-year wait for a ranking title by lifting the German Masters in Berlin with a 9-7 win over an on-fire Stephen Maguire – a figure who prodded home three straight tons on his way to a 6-3 lead – before defeating Ali Carter 18-11 in the world final to secure his fourth Cruciblecrown.

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As Trump advanced to include the 2019 world title in his expanding collection, O’Sullivan celebrated four more of the best in the same span of time. The idea is that single losses in snooker, or indeed any sport, shouldn’t carry much weight.

It is the fundamental nature of snooker that players can get rolled over as much as the balls run when the mood takes them, much as night follows day in such dimly lit surroundings.

When asked if that was his best performance of the season, Selby answered, “By a long stretch.”

The four-time world champion advanced to the semifinals with breaks of 65, 91, 81, 105, and 59 while maintaining a strong long game. “You are playing the wrong game if you can’t stand performing for Ronnie in front of a large crowd, which he always attracts. You should put yourself to the test there.

Perhaps the only thing O’Sullivan will regret is not performing better for the sizable crowd that came to see him at the Telford International Centre.

The seven-time world champion, who has seen and done it all in snooker, including taking some severe beatings over his illustrious 32-year career, is not surprised by heavy losses at such an elite level. Everyone usually does.

During the previous season, he lost to world No. 56 Tian Pengfei 5-0 in the Welsh Open quarterfinals after being defeated 6-0 by a motivated Ding Junhui in the UK Championship quarterfinals.

However, Ding’s recent record did not help him when, a year later, he lost to O’Sullivan 10-7 in the UK Championship final.

On the other hand, O’Sullivan’s 6-1 first-round victory over Luca Brecel at the Masters last year was irrelevant since he lost to the “Belgian Bullet” 13-10 in the World Championship quarterfinals after dropping seven straight frames.

O’Sullivan uses an extremely forceful break-off to send balls flying around the table.

In the first round of the German Masters three years prior, O’Sullivan likewise lost 5-0 to Hossein Vafaei, a player he had defeated 13-2 in the World Championship’s second round in April and 6-2 in the UK’s semi-finals in December.

In a manner reminiscent of his loss to Selby, he amused himself by smashing the reds up during the match, seemingly without giving it much consideration.

In fact, he will probably just step up his preparations to try for a record eighth title at the 48th World Championship in April in the wake of such a setback.

This season, O’Sullivan has been in incredible form. He defeated Selby 10-7 in the Shanghai Masters semifinals and defeated world champion Brecel 11-9 in the championship match. O’Sullivan then went on to win trophies at the Masters, UK Championship, and World Grand Prix.

His loss to Selby put a stop to a 16-match winning run, but in professional sports, things have to give way eventually.

The run of victories had to end because snooker is an impossible game to dominate, as Trump—who has won this season in Wuhan, Belfast, Berlin, and Brentwood—found out when he lost 6-4 to Carter in the Players Championship final eight the previous evening.