The most painful defeat of your favourite player is...??

Or indeed, of your favourite players...

Fave player: Ronnie O'Sullivan.

There can only be one for, there simply can only be one...

The 2006 Masters Final. Well played, John Higgins. That clearance he produced to just sneak the frame and win the match against Ronnie 10-9... what a hammer blow. That frame pretty much sums up John Higgins.



For the record, my favourite high profile loss has to be the 1997 Masters Final, because he lost to Steve Davis (10-8), of course!

What a match that was.

I seriously thought Ronnie had it, so I can see why you'd be disappointed. Wasn't that the last match that was held at The Conference Center? Must've been a great match to see live.

Yep, the last final there.

Here's a recap:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukrfnt4j9UQ

Losing 17-13 to Hendry in the 1999 WC semi-final.

Ding 9-10 Wasley
Ding 0-5 Brown
Ding 5-6 Wang Zepeng
Ding 3-10 O'Sullivan

gcjdavid wrote:Ding 9-10 Wasley
Ding 0-5 Brown
Ding 5-6 Wang Zepeng
Ding 3-10 O'Sullivan

I thought your favourite player is ROS?

Ronnie had some very very painful defeats in Masters finals. It's a little bit similar to what Jimmy White experienced in the WC. 4 of the 5 Masters finals he lost, he could have and probably even should have won.

But the match against Higgins hurts at most as he was 60:0 ahead in the decider and then missed a sitter. And Higgins made one of the best pressure clearances ever, if not the best and won on the final black! That was very painful indeed.

I'm still bearing a grudge against 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy
Matthew no longer my favourite and yet Smurph remains my least favourite

Clara8633 wrote:

gcjdavid wrote:Ding 9-10 Wasley
Ding 0-5 Brown
Ding 5-6 Wang Zepeng
Ding 3-10 O'Sullivan

I thought your favourite player is ROS?

Ronnie has too few upsets. However, Ding has many notable ones. In addition, we both are Asians.

sundaygirl wrote:I'm still bearing a grudge against 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy
Matthew no longer my favourite and yet Smurph remains my least favourite

No problems with MJW though?

Skullman wrote:

sundaygirl wrote:I'm still bearing a grudge against 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy
Matthew no longer my favourite and yet Smurph remains my least favourite

No problems with MJW though?

No none at all

all the ronnie losses to selby and higgins are painful especially this years WC final.

Anyway for me:

Losing from 5-2 up to Mark Allen (twice!). Even worse since I can't stand him.
Losing 10-3 to Barry Hawkins because of the neck injury
Losing to Ding in the 2011 quarters, partly because he had fought back to 10-10 from 6-10 and partly because he was absolutely awesome against Hendry the round before.

Skullman wrote:Anyway for me:

Losing from 5-2 up to Mark Allen (twice!). Even worse since I can't stand him.
Losing 10-3 to Barry Hawkins because of the neck injury
Losing to Ding in the 2011 quarters, partly because he had fought back to 10-10 from 6-10 and partly because he was absolutely awesome against Hendry the round before.

How would you rate the losses in the Masters final 2009 and the WC quarterfinal 2009?

In my eyes two of his most painful defeats. Speaking about the Masters. He was 7:5 in front against Ronnie, when it was 8:8 he missed two frameballs and Ronnie potted a big pressure blue and pink at the end to win the 17th frame by a margin of one point. It was a very tight match who could have gone either way.

And against Higgins Selby basicially played perfect Snooker and was more than ready to win the WC that year and I feel, had he beaten Higgins he'd have won it. But he lost in the decider.

sundaygirl wrote:I'm still bearing a grudge against 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy
Matthew no longer my favourite and yet Smurph remains my least favourite

Blimey. I didn't realise you liked Walden that much? He overtook Stevens.

That time we saw Stevens play Higgins, you were practically gnashing your teeth and wailing every times Stevens missed a shot.

TheRocket wrote:How would you rate the losses in the Masters final 2009 and the WC quarterfinal 2009?

In my eyes two of his most painful defeats. Speaking about the Masters. He was 7:5 in front against Ronnie, when it was 8:8 he missed two frameballs and Ronnie potted a big pressure blue and pink at the end to win the 17th frame by a margin of one point. It was a very tight match who could have gone either way.

And against Higgins Selby basicially played perfect Snooker and was more than ready to win the WC that year and I feel, had he beaten Higgins he'd have won it. But he lost in the decider.

They weren't great but they were actually before I started snooker so aren't as painful as matches I saw as they happened.

Brecel 5-6 Murphy 2012 UK QF
White 4-5 Allen, 2014 Shanghai QF.

As a childhood Hendry fan, has to be the 2002 World Champ final

White missing that black against Hendry

White losing 10 on the trot from 14-8 in front.

Skullman made a good point that matches your favourite player lost before you start watching snooker don't affect you that much. So I'll list the matches that really got to me during my time watching snooker chronologically.

2007 Grand Prix final 6-9 Marco Fu:
This may seem an unlikely mentioning but at the time I was very upset. All the pundits started counting the days since his last ranking win (even though he won the Masters that year, they made a big deal out of it) and I really thought Ronnie had this in the bag, especially after Fu only scrapped through against Greene in the semi finals. But Fu played superbly and shocked Ronnie and his fans.

2008 Welsh Open final 8-9 Mark Selby:
That match was the start of the Ronnie - Selby rivalry. Ronnie threw that match away it has to be said, he had more than enough chances to clinch it and started to lose his patience. I didn't took that defeat very well because he really shouldn't have lost this one.

2009 World Championship second round 11-13 Mark Allen:
The defeat itself wasn't that terrible but it meant that Ronnie was no longer World Champion. It took a while to get over this one.

2009 Grand Prix second round 4-5 John Higgins:
Not many would list this match but I do because it was the start of the deteriorating of pre-Peters Ronnie O'Sullivan. Ronnie missed a sitter to win 5-3, I was so mad because Ronnie really threw it away.

2009 UK Championship semi finals 8-9 John Higgins:
This was a big one. It really was a hammer blow. I badly wanted Ronnie to win but he had a terrible start and was 4-1, 6-2 and 8-2 down. The fightback he made was unreal. 6 frames in a row and Higgins looked gone. Ronnie had the first chance in the decider but he missed. Higgins made one of the best clearances I have ever seen under pressure and closed it out in one visit. I was completely crushed. All that effort for nothing.

2010 Masters final 9-10 Mark Selby:
Probably the worst of them all. After that UK disaster the Masters win could have made things right again. But of course everything went from bad to worse. 9-6 and it look over but Selby started producing superb snooker. Ronnie only had one chance really. In the 18th frame he needed to clear the colours, potted the yellow but couldn't get position on the green. I think I will never forget the next shot, Ronnie tried to cut the green in from an impossible angle and left it. It was the end as he didn't get a chance in the decider. It was absolutely devastating.

2010 World Championship quarter final 11-13 Mark Selby:
Not as bad as the previous two but still it was bad. It felt like the final nail in the coffin and it really was for the pre-Peters Ronnie. Again he lost a lead from well in front against Selby, he crumbled under the pressure in the last session. It was terrible to watch.

2011 Welsh Open first round 2-4 Ryan Day:
It was obviously not that bad, but it sums up Ronnie's 2010/11 season perfectly. An uninspired, helpless performance from Ronnie. He was gone at that time. He talked about pulling out of the World Championships but thankfully he didn't. That defeat was probably his all time career low before he turned it all around (the win in the first PTC of the new season with 8 centuries was the first sign of recovery).

2011 UK Championship second round 5-6 Judd Trump:
Why is this in here? Because everybody started talking about Trump taking over from Ronnie. It was a big match because it was the first time they play in a big event since Trump broke through. Ronnie played well and could have won but he missed vital long pots under pressure and Judd won 6-5. It wasn't a nice feeling seeing that happen.

2014 World Championship final 14-18 Mark Selby:
Painful but nowhere near as bad as the 2010 Masters. This time it wasn't because he squandered his lead or lost to Selby but because he missed a chance to catch Steve Davis. However all the wins he had that season made this defeat quite bearable.


So that's all. I think it's important for Ronnie fans to remember the dark times just as they remember the highlights and great wins. They are all part of Ronnie's great career and looking back makes me even happier how things are in the present

Ronnie v Selby 2014 worlds
Selby did next to nowt really.
It was just a fateful last session that was odd.
I hated it every second of it but I accepted it
And didnt gob off on snooker forums and twitter
That everybody who is a selby fan is a help yourselfer.

Like some on here who if I ever meet them will be asked by me what their game is.

People who do this sort of thing need to face the people they are slagging off.

We know who they are dont we.

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Skullman made a good point that matches your favourite player lost before you start watching snooker don't affect you that much. So I'll list the matches that really got to me during my time watching snooker chronologically.

2007 Grand Prix final 6-9 Marco Fu:
This may seem an unlikely mentioning but at the time I was very upset. All the pundits started counting the days since his last ranking win (even though he won the Masters that year, they made a big deal out of it) and I really thought Ronnie had this in the bag, especially after Fu only scrapped through against Greene in the semi finals. But Fu played superbly and shocked Ronnie and his fans.

2008 Welsh Open final 8-9 Mark Selby:
That match was the start of the Ronnie - Selby rivalry. Ronnie threw that match away it has to be said, he had more than enough chances to clinch it and started to lose his patience. I didn't took that defeat very well because he really shouldn't have lost this one.

2009 World Championship second round 11-13 Mark Allen:
The defeat itself wasn't that terrible but it meant that Ronnie was no longer World Champion. It took a while to get over this one.

2009 Grand Prix second round 4-5 John Higgins:
Not many would list this match but I do because it was the start of the deteriorating of pre-Peters Ronnie O'Sullivan. Ronnie missed a sitter to win 5-3, I was so mad because Ronnie really threw it away.

2009 UK Championship semi finals 8-9 John Higgins:
This was a big one. It really was a hammer blow. I badly wanted Ronnie to win but he had a terrible start and was 4-1, 6-2 and 8-2 down. The fightback he made was unreal. 6 frames in a row and Higgins looked gone. Ronnie had the first chance in the decider but he missed. Higgins made one of the best clearances I have ever seen under pressure and closed it out in one visit. I was completely crushed. All that effort for nothing.

2010 Masters final 9-10 Mark Selby:
Probably the worst of them all. After that UK disaster the Masters win could have made things right again. But of course everything went from bad to worse. 9-6 and it look over but Selby started producing superb snooker. Ronnie only had one chance really. In the 18th frame he needed to clear the colours, potted the yellow but couldn't get position on the green. I think I will never forget the next shot, Ronnie tried to cut the green in from an impossible angle and left it. It was the end as he didn't get a chance in the decider. It was absolutely devastating.

2010 World Championship quarter final 11-13 Mark Selby:
Not as bad as the previous two but still it was bad. It felt like the final nail in the coffin and it really was for the pre-Peters Ronnie. Again he lost a lead from well in front against Selby, he crumbled under the pressure in the last session. It was terrible to watch.

2011 Welsh Open first round 2-4 Ryan Day:
It was obviously not that bad, but it sums up Ronnie's 2010/11 season perfectly. An uninspired, helpless performance from Ronnie. He was gone at that time. He talked about pulling out of the World Championships but thankfully he didn't. That defeat was probably his all time career low before he turned it all around (the win in the first PTC of the new season with 8 centuries was the first sign of recovery).

2011 UK Championship second round 5-6 Judd Trump:
Why is this in here? Because everybody started talking about Trump taking over from Ronnie. It was a big match because it was the first time they play in a big event since Trump broke through. Ronnie played well and could have won but he missed vital long pots under pressure and Judd won 6-5. It wasn't a nice feeling seeing that happen.

2014 World Championship final 14-18 Mark Selby:
Painful but nowhere near as bad as the 2010 Masters. This time it wasn't because he squandered his lead or lost to Selby but because he missed a chance to catch Steve Davis. However all the wins he had that season made this defeat quite bearable.


So that's all. I think it's important for Ronnie fans to remember the dark times just as they remember the highlights and great wins. They are all part of Ronnie's great career and looking back makes me even happier how things are in the present

Great post So, agree with all the matches you listed, I would only add the World Champs 2011 Quarter-Final v Higgins, Higgins was playing nowhere near his best form in that tournament, this was Ronnie's biggest chance to end a nightmare season and he hads a golden chance to do so when he led something like 8-4 with Higgins playing shockingly bad. Ronnie bottled it however, somehow Higgins leveled that session 8-8 and then Ronnie was gone. Had he won that MJW wouldn't have beaten Ronnie the Semis there, ok Ronnie could have still lost to a fearless Judd at the time in the Final but as I said that defeat although nowhere as bad as some of Selby's took a few days to recover.

But as rightly say SO the present is all that matters, and boy it couldn't have been better as things stand

The 2010 Masters final Ronnie v. Selby is the worst loss I can recall since the 2006 Masters final for Ronnie.

Maybe by the end of his career he can have the most losses and most wins in finals at the Masters.

Ronnie v Hendry
Charity Challenge 1997
Hendry knocking in a max after Ronnie came back from 8-2 down.

gcjdavid wrote:Ronnie v Hendry
Charity Challenge 1997
Hendry knocking in a max after Ronnie came back from 8-2 down.

I didnt watch it live back then, but really even if I did I don't think that would be so painful, once Hendry got past 73 points I think I would have definately cheered him on to make the max, bit disappointing yes esecially because Ronnie won frames on the trot in something like 40 or 50 min, unreal, but really I think I would have just congratulated Hendry on a brilliant feat, more so in a decider to win a tournament.

Now what is painful, and almost in same circumstances, is Ronnie coming back from the same scoreline against Higgins in 2009 UK and losing the decider.

Davis losing to Taylor was very painful, especially because Taylor was dross. Even worse though, because he never won the worlds, was Jimmy losing finals to Hendry, that were in the bag. I think all the nation felt that pain. Jimmy should have won 2, maybe 3 worlds and Hendry should really be on 4-5. Painful!

as a hendry fan, stephen losing the final to ebdon was tough to take, he didn't as well against ronnie in the sf but he still could/should have won in the decider, a big turning point in his career imo, he might have got another wc had he won his 8th in 02