28.11.10

O'SULLIVAN IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN

Ronnie O’Sullivan proved once again this weekend that he is the king of the shot clock as he won the partycasino.com Premier League title for the ninth time with a 7-1 defeat of Shaun Murphy.

This is O’Sullivan’s sixth title victory from the seven stagings of the Premier League under the 25 second per shot limit.

He was superb in beating Neil Robertson 5-1 in the semi-finals and played well in the final, but Murphy, the defending Premier League champion, was well below par.

So it’s O’Sullivan’s title once again, but can he take this form to the UK Championship?

Only once (in 2007) has he followed his capture of the shot clock Premier League with victory in snooker’s second biggest tournament.

There’s no shot clock in Telford. It is two session, nine day snooker and so therefore a completely different mental approach is required.

As the man himself put it: "The UK, the Masters and the Worlds are a completely different ball game."

Encouragingly for O’Sullivan fans, Ronnie was in a good mood in Hopton-on-Sea, even declaring himself to be happy with how he played.

We all know this contented spell is not bound to last but therein lies the fascination.

It’s 17 years to the day since he won his first ranking title, the 1993 UK Championship, just days before he turned 18.

Much has happened on table and off since then but O’Sullivan remains a rare talent, and the Premier League trophy seems to be his to keep.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a difference it makes NOT doing a half marathon this time.

Rons in a league of his own in this specialised format.

Several top players have shown glimpses of form so far this season so the UK Champs is bubbling up real good with lots of subplots in store.

Anonymous said...

On the bright side there's always three or four tournaments Ronnie is virtually guaranteed to win each season no matter his form or his frame of mind.

Enough to keep some people happy.

Anonymous said...

well done Ron on winning the tournament set up to suit you. great. fab.

he wont win the uk, as its played to proper snooker rules and without gimmicks.

my money is on Neil or Higgins

Executor said...

How funny to see some clearly biased people calling other people - like Jamie Brannon - biased.

How many times when Premier League hase been discussed on this forum, scores of people said that whoever wins it this year deserves it more than anyone before because of an extraordinary line up?

This whoever, though, applies to everybody except Ronnie. He has not won it despite extraordinary line up, he of course had not performed well in most of his matches and perhaps excellently this weekend, he had not beaten some top names along the way (your beloved World Champion twice, by the way) - no, he won simply because this format has been made for him.

Poor guy, who is not a three times world champion and has not 20+ ranking titles to his belt. No, he had to have Premier League created for him to reward his talent, his ability to leave thousands of people breathless watching him moving around the table.

This, by far, is the most stupid, most primitive idea I have probably ever heard of, at least as far as snooker in general is concerned.

If you excell in mathematics rather than history or biology, does it mean that mathematics has been invented for you?

If Andy Murray is far, far better in singles than he is in doubles, doest that mean the singles have been invented for him, otherwise he won't win a thing in 100 years?

Wake up, some of you - or even better, grow up.

Anonymous said...

With Ronnie's dad out of jail then surely this will help Ronnie.

Anonymous said...

11.52 forgets ron only owns the title of two snnoker comps bastardised to suit him

speed premier league with clock
speed power snooker

well played 11.52. if i had a loaf like yours id not use it either, seeing its cold outside and you may need to eat it.

Executor said...

12:21 read again what I wrote above plus try educating yourself a bit in snooker history, provided you're old enough to be able to do that, lol

Anonymous said...

The tired arguments against Ronnie are getting so pathetic that it probably is 'trolling'. And yes, the bait is caught.

Anyone who saw how well Ronnie and Shaun played this weekend cannot 'blame' their brilliance on the set-up. The shot clock is coupled with the time-outs, so if you need a good thinking it is possible - not once but a good handful of times. This is not Power Snooker this is proper snooker.

Too bad Ronnie only performs in one-nighters. No, wait, didn't he once have a go at that event in Sheffield?

Congratulations Ronnie O'Sullivan. He played well and proves that all formats suit him be it 17 day events or the shorter matches and tournaments.

I am sure there is a 93 year old man somewhere complaining about these young fools only playing 35 frames to be world champion:

"Anything less than a 100 frames is a pathetic coin toss".

12:21 - you are a sad character

Anonymous said...

Very good post.