Winner takes all

-
With current domination by O’Sullivan in his hand picked tournaments, players are struggling to earn  titles outside Ronnie free finals. This begs the question of whether any player has the ability to match his A, B and C games in totatality? My theory is that players have far too much respect for O’Sullivan and should clear this weakness from their minds. By adopting this attitude, you fall into Ronnie’s trap of immortality.

Ronnie definitely has chinks in his armour and has shown in early round matches that when he is not in the right mind set, he can lose to any ranked player. However the main problem with other players in my opinion is a confidence issue. Players such as Ding, Selby, Robertson and Allen become like a rabbit in the headlights when they play Ronnie and their all round game flounders. Like a predator, Ronnie preys on this weakness and like a boxer on the ropes, keeps punching until his opponent falls in the ring.

Until these hurdles are crossed, no player can match Ronnie’s game, a bold statement even for me, who has been constantly critical of O’Sullivan. To beat Ronnie, you have to break down his game and strip back his strengths. Only Selby and Trump seem capable of this but have only managed it when O’Sullivan is playing his B game. A missed pot, the lack of long range potting and mistakes when in the balls causes this player to become a human hoover, sucking up every ball in sight.

O’Sullivan showed in Sunday’s final against Robertson that he is fearless and sees other players, bar Higgins who he seems to respect, as inferior. This is an arrogant attitude but probably one that he has cooked up with his sports psychologist, Steve Peters, a way of achieving his goals. Ronnie now has 1000 career centuries, trouncing Hendry’s record. Put with this the fact that O’ Sullivan will be entering the Gibraltar Open this weekend and has his sights on another World Championship title.

Despite these gloomy facts, not all is lost. The talent is definitely there in the other 127 players and it is a fact that the standard of play has been raised since the glory days of the 1980s. These players can triumph in tournaments but they have to nurture their game but at a faster pace.They will have to have  a full set of oiled gears and a functioning brake to win. Only then will the silverware be won and Ronnie’s dominance be broken.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Which way, left or right?

-
Image
One of the greatest spats that occurred in snooker history was between my friend Alain Robidoux and Ronnie O’Sullivan. It occurred in 1996 at the World Championship. Ronnie, a then young whipper snapper at 19, trounced Alain in the match, winning 10-3. However beyond the win, a spat occurred when Ronnie decided to take a number of shots left handed. Robidoux criticised O’Sullivan after the match for being “disrespectful”. Ronnie hit back at Alain saying “if he wants to act like a baby that’s up to him” adding “ the crowd enjoyed it, that’s the main thing”. This was probably the first time that a player had dared to take multiple shots left handed and led to players attempting the same feat. Perhaps this wouldn’t have been become a regular occurrence if this hadn’t of happened. This snooker bust up led to Alain refusing to shake Ronnie’s hand at the end of the match. Robidoux later explained his actions saying “Ronnie was being disrespectful to his fellow professionals and should sa
Read more

Place your bets

-
Image
Match fixing in snooker has unfortunately been in operation since the very early days of the game with reports of Joe Davis having "carried" weaker opponents in multi-session matches to maximise the gate revenue. This trait continued through the history of the sport with players such as Willie Thorne and Alex Higgins claiming they were offered large sums of money to lose matches. Players may not enter a match fixing agreement on their own free will, being subject to threats of violence if they fail to submit. The lucrative criminal act is largely based in the Far East where gangs devise money making scams in various sports, using their players to infiltrate the individual sport and extract multimillion currency earnings. Although this happens, World Snooker has been very vigilant to attempt to stamp out this criminal activity in recent years. The main punishment being heavy fines or bans from the game. Recognisable figures such as Quentin Hann, Stephen Lee and Joe Joggi
Read more

The Ooty Club, birthplace of snooker

-
Image
Snooker was first born millions of miles away from the UK in a small town in the Nilgiri hills of Southern India. Recently Dennis Taylor went to this club and played on the first ever table produced. The Ooty Colonial Club was set up amongst 65 hill stations for the British army. Built by Sir William Rumbold In 1836, the club was built in a colonial style  and houses a bar and billiard room. A relic of the Raj period, the mixed bar still has a strict dress code and is set in a building and surrounding area that could be produced by bursting a time bubble and even has the original ball room. Inside the Billiards Room, stands the first ever snooker table made. A rare antique that is still playable and reminds us how old the game and how far it has travelled
Read more