The 2022 World Snooker Championship got here to an finish on Monday evening with Ronnie O’Sullivan lifting the well-known outdated trophy for a seventh time.
It dropped at an in depth 17 days of motion on the Crucible, which itself adopted 10 days of pressure on the qualifiers in Sheffield.
The Class of 92 all shone as they made up three of the 4 semi-finalists, there was a giant victory for a younger debutant and an immense most from the match favorite.
The Rocket’s triumph secured himself one other slice of snooker historical past as he equals Stephen Hendry’s world title haul, whereas he helped break the document for match tons as effectively.
However simply how good was this World Championship? It felt like a superb one, however was it a terrific one?
Drama
There may be at all times drama on the Crucible, but it surely really felt like we weren't awash with it this yr. O’Sullivan’s run to the title was about as serene as you will note as he swatted away the competitors. The 18-13 defeat of Judd Trump within the ultimate and 10-5 win over Dave Gilbert in spherical one have been as shut as his video games obtained.
We didn’t get a single decider within the first spherical, which gave the match just a little little bit of a gradual burn vibe early on.
In fact the drama did arrive and there have been some agonisingly tense moments. Yan Bingtao’s second spherical win over Mark Selby was excellent, and on one wonderful evening we have been handled to Trump’s epic win over Anthony McGill and Jack Lisowski’s gorgeous effort to beat Neil Robertson in a deciding body.
Lisowski was within the warmth of battle once more within the quarters, dropping the ultimate two frames to John Higgins to be crushed 13-12, whereas Trump got here via a tremendous match within the semis to beat Mark Williams 17-16.
These matches have been a number of the finest you might hope to see, but it surely was nonetheless not probably the most dramatic of tournaments on the entire because the Rocket strolled to victory.
This was going to finish at 6/10, but it surely will get an additional half level for the looks of the pigeon throughout Yan vs Selby, which was psychological.
High quality
A document 109 centuries have been made on the Crucible this yr, beating the document set in 2021 by a single ton. A kind of got here within the type of an ideal 147 from Neil Robertson. High quality doesn’t get greater than that.
Mark Williams equalled Stephen Hendry’s document of 16 tons in a single occasion, with O’Sullivan falling one brief. The Welshman additionally knocked in six tons in his rout of fine pal Jackson Web page in spherical two.
O’Sullivan and Williams have been the 2 standout performers when it comes to high quality over the occasion. Surprisingly, Ronnie wasn’t usually at his blistering finest however was at all times doing sufficient, whereas Mark was at his highest at factors and seemed unstoppable, till he was stopped by Trump.
The case of Trump is an odd one actually. He obtained to the ultimate and received 13 frames there towards the best of all time, however hardly confirmed his finest type. Equally, John Higgins wouldn't say he performed brilliantly in Sheffield this yr however reached the semis.
Yan Bingtao is value a nod in high quality phrases, having shone in spherical one towards Chris Wakelin, occurring to down Selby after which actually push Williams within the quarters.
With all of the tons flying in, this occasion has to attain effectively in high quality, however with a participant admitting he was struggling all through and attending to the ultimate, it may possibly’t fairly go the take a look at with flying colors.
Controversy
O’Sullivan was on the centre of lots of the controversial moments on the Crucible this yr. Having a barney with the referee on the primary day of the ultimate wasn’t a terrific look, whereas he obtained in sizzling water earlier within the match for making a lewd gesture throughout a match.
There have been some controversial feedback early within the occasion, with Hossein Vafaei telling O’Sullivan to retire, whereas there was a lot speak of shifting from the Crucible, or increasing the present venue, which at all times ruffles feathers.
It was all pretty inoffensive stuff, although. The feature-length hug between O’Sullivan and Trump on the finish of the ultimate confirmed the nice spirit by which it was performed. Some flashpoints, however not a very controversial World Championship.
Historical past
O’Sullivan’s seventh world title appears like an enormous little bit of snooker historical past, lastly equalling the document Hendry set in 1999. In fact, if he goes on to win eight or extra then the seventh will fade in significance, but when that is the final one, then it's going to stay a large second.
The Rocket turned the oldest world champion ever at 46 and broke Hendry’s document of 70 wins on the Crucible, taking his tally to 74.
He was thought-about by many the game’s GOAT earlier than this, however there are nearly no dissenting voices to that argument now.
The document variety of centuries is a pleasant factor for this yr’s occasion, as is a most break, which is just the second on the Crucible since 2012. Graeme Dott additionally knocked in a 147 in qualifying.
Vafaei turned the primary Iranian to play on the Crucible, whereas Liam Davies turned the youngest participant ever to win a World Championship recreation when he beat Aaron Hill in qualifying at simply 15 years and 277 days.
Plenty of scribbling into the historical past books after this one. Additionally…the pigeon once more.
Environment
The Crucible by no means lets us down. There have been all the same old swings from intense silence to eardrum-rattling roars as and when applicable.
The evening when Lisowski downed Robertson and Trump edged McGill felt like one of many nice evenings on the iconic theatre. The gang additionally added to Williams’ unimaginable fightback towards Trump within the semis, which simply fell brief on the dying.
Even in defeat within the ultimate, Trump modified his tune on the way forward for the World Championship, calling for it to remain on the Crucible because of the particular atmosphere in that room.
There have been disappointingly and confusingly some apparent empty seats in massive video games, which simply takes a slight little bit of shine off, but it surely was glorious, as at all times, on the Crucible.
Shocks
Not likely a stunning match usually. The fantastic semi-final line-up of Trump vs Williams and O’Sullivan vs Higgins was one to savour, however confirmed that the favourites had largely survived.
Neil Robertson’s exit to Jack Lisowski within the second spherical was a reasonably main shock, however Jackpot is a longtime prime 16 participant so we shouldn’t go overboard.
Solely three qualifiers emerged from the primary spherical, however Stephen Maguire beating Shaun Murphy and Noppon Saengkham downing Luca Brecel weren't significantly gorgeous.
The large shock of the primary spherical – and doubtless the upset of the match – was 20-year-old Jackson Web page ousting Barry Hawkins on his Crucible debut with an excellent show of break-building.
That was about it, although, when it comes to surprises. Not that it's essentially a foul factor, however World Championship shocks do resonate via time, so we're lacking one thing if we don’t get them.
Last
It was a superb ultimate with out being a terrific ultimate, I feel that’s truthful to say. O’Sullivan opened up a 12-5 lead on Sunday with Trump struggling and it throughout at that time.
Judd was excellent on the Monday afternoon and roared again into rivalry, creating probably the greatest periods of the occasion, however Ronnie actually stamped out the hope of an epic comeback within the night.
Monday particularly was very top quality but it surely at all times felt like an excessive amount of for Trump to come back again from and it was a comparatively drama-free early end.
That offers the match a mean rating of , which sounds just a little harsh after a really pleasurable occasion, however that's the results of this swiftly concocted and utterly unscientific scoring system.
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