O'Sullivan’s ‘ridiculous’ controversy & flipping the bird - the story of World Snooker Championship
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ByEurosport
Updated 25/12/2020 at 07:40 GMT
The re-arranged 2020 World Snooker Championship straddled July and August, culminating with Ronnie O’Sullivan winning his sixth world title. The tournament would see Kurt Maflin flip the bird at the cue ball, Anthony McGill confront Jamie Clarke and O'Sullivan court controversy with a "ridiculous" shot against Mark Selby
O'Sullivan’s ‘ridiculous’ controversy & flipping the bird - the story of the World Championship
Image credit: Eurosport
WHAT HAPPENED?
Ronnie O’Sullivan beat Kyren Wilson 18-8 in the final, sealing a sixth world title and a 37th ranking event win. It was a win that Des Kane wrote O'Sullivan secured in second gear. It represented the latest chapter in the storied career of The Rocket but there was plenty more storylines at the 44th staging of the World Championship at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield.
Ronnie O'Sullivan records fastest-ever World Championship win
Ronnie O’Sullivan began his campaign in fine form as he dominated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to notch a 10-1 win in record World Championship time and set up an intriguing match against Ding Junhui.
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Watch Ronnie O'Sullivan close out record-breaking win at World Snooker Championship
"I always think if I can play quick and with accuracy, that’s when I’m at my best,” he said after the win.
It also makes my opponent a little bit weary, hesitant, off their stride, because everything can happen so quickly
Flipping the bird at the cue ball
Kurt Maflin had a strong showing at The Crucible, making the quarter-finals but he will probably be best remembered for flipping the bird at the cue ball in his first-round match against Dave Gilbert. The world number 25 had dispatched 13 reds and 13 blacks, chasing a 147 maximum, when he ran out of position. Yet, he produced a remarkable pot, only to see the white cannon off the yellow and nestle close to the blue bringing the break to a close.
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Kurt Maflin flips the bird at cue ball after fluffing 147 maximum chance - World Championship
He would be warned by the referee that he would forfeit a frame if he repeated his finger antics, but would win 10-8 to set up a clash with John Higgins in the second round.
A masterful maximum but an early exit for Higgins
John Higgins produced a masterful maximum in his second-round match against Maflin, recording the first at The Crucible in eight years.
“That’s a remarkable break by a truly remarkable champion,” reacted Eurosport commentator Dave Hendon.
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147 in full: Watch John Higgins' stunning World Snooker Championship maximum
Yet, the four-time world champion would have little time to savour the achievement, with Maflin winning a gripping contest 13-11 to progress to the quarter-final stage for the first time in his career.
Anthony McGill confronts Jamie Clarke
There were further remarkable scenes in round two when Anthony McGill, who would make the semi-finals, confronted Jamie Clarke, whom McGill thought was deliberately in his eyeline for a shot, and remonstrated with his opponent over the matter.
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Watch shock confrontation between Anthony McGill and Jamie Clarke at World Snooker Championship
It got to the point that referee Jan Verhaas had to intervene to calm down the situation, and the frame ultimately concluded with Clarke winning it to go 8-2 up.
With the two players heading away from the table at the frame’s conclusion, McGill was seen chasing after Clarke to continue the confrontation.
Clarke even proceeded to tweet about it during the interval, saying: "You want to dance, let's dance".
McGill would go on to win 13-12.
Ronnie O'Sullivan: Snooker's young players are so bad I'd have to lose an arm to fall out of top 50
After besting Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in round one, O'Sullivan beat Ding Junhui, producing the below remarkable safety in the process, to set up a showdown with Mark Williams in the last eight.
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Ronnie O'Sullivan produces 'one of the best safety shots I've seen' at World Championship
But when asked if he was surprised that he and Williams are still among the game's brightest talents, over 25 years after making their debuts, O'Sullivan responded with a broadside against the younger generation.
"If you asked me then (if I thought I'd still be at this level), then no," O'Sullivan told the BBC. "But if you look at the standard of play then I’d say yes – for people like me and John (Higgins) and Mark (Williams).
"If you look at the younger players coming through, they’re not that good really. Most of them they’d probably do well as half-decent amateurs, not even amateurs they’re so bad.
A lot of them you see now, you think ‘I’d probably have to lose an arm and a leg to fall outside the top 50'.
"So that’s really why we’re still hovering around, because of just how poor it is."
World champion Judd Trump dethroned
The hitherto imperious Judd Trump, aiming to become the first first-time winner to defend his world title since the tournament moved to The Crucible in 1977, was dumped out at the quarter-final stage - courtesy of a 13-9 reverse - by old foe Kyren Wilson.
Trump was, however, magnanimous in defeat, despite a previous clash of personality with the Kettering potter.
We didn’t use to get on that well, but we’ve done a few exhibitions together and get on well now. He looks like he has really improved. He’s taken a step up. For me, it is all about putting my foot on the gas for next season.
O'Sullivan courts controversy with 'ridiculous' shot against Mark Selby
Ronnie O'Sullivan fought back to beat Mark Williams at the quarter-final stage to progress to a semi-final showdown with Mark Selby, and the then five-time world champion courted controversy in that clash. O'Sullivan, at a crucial moment in the 30th frame, with Selby leading 15-14, smashed the cue ball when in a tight spot before later going on to clinch a memorable 17-16 victory and set up a final against Kyren Wilson.
On commentary at the time, Foulds said immediately after the incident: "It’s just a ridiculous shot, an absolutely ridiculous shot. That’s Ronnie letting himself down, I’m afraid."
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'An absolutely ridiculous shot' - Ronnie O'Sullivan smashes cue ball
Selby added to Eurosport: “I just felt like it was obviously a bit disrespectful to me and the game.
“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. So I just thought it was a little disrespectful to me and the game, but you’ll have to ask Ronnie about that himself
Selby 'wrong' to slam O'Sullivan
However, Eurosport analyst Neal Foulds said that Selby was wrong to slam O'Sullivan in The Break podcast.
"Mark is wrong about one thing, it disrespecting him," Foulds said.
"You can play whatever shot you like out there. You can play whatever shot you like.
It's up to you what you do, you don't have to play the shots that suit your opponent. So Mark has got that wrong.
The greatest frame in snooker history? Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill produce high drama
An emotional Kyren Wilson battled into the final with a thrilling 17-16 win over Anthony McGill, with McGill saying that a spot in the showdown had been stolen from him by "the snooker gods."
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Wilson overcome with emotion after fluking green to finally settle epic final frame against McGill
Wilson and McGill were locked at 16-16 going into their decider at The Crucible and what followed was a stunning piece of sporting drama. The total frame score of 186 was one of the highest in history following a succession of fouls from both players, as well as some truly shocking misses.
As Wilson put it in the Eurosport studio afterwards:
Mental match, mental decider…I just couldn’t believe what was happening… it was one of the best semi-finals you will ever see.
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'The most incredible frame... ridiculous' - Watch remarkable exchanges between Wilson and McGill
McGill’s score of 83 was the highest ever recorded by the losing player in any Crucible frame. Jimmy White put it succinctly in the Eurosport studio: "It's done me swede in!"
The final: O'Sullivan coasts to sixth world crown
Ronnie O’Sullivan won a sixth World Snooker Championship title after beating Kyren Wilson 18-8 in the final, with The Rocket dominating the final day, winning seven of the eight frames in the afternoon session and then sealing a resounding victory with a 96 break in the first frame of the evening.
There was little of the fireworks and drama that had marked the semi-finals but there was one amusing moment when for unknown reasons, ‘Disco Inferno’ started blaring out during the final.
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Watch bizarre moment ‘Disco Inferno’ starts blaring out during World Snooker Championship final
'It's nice to be living the dream'
A sixth world title win left The Rocket feeling he was living out his dream.
"When I was a kid I never dreamed I would be here," said O'Sullivan, who had last won the title in 2013.
I played for the fun of the game and I still try to play for the fun of it. To be here and to have all those victories is a dream. It’s becoming a bit of a reality so it’s nice to be living the dream.
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