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Greatest World Championship triumph of Ronnie O'Sullivan

2001
4
24%
2004
6
35%
2008
2
12%
2012
0
No votes
2013
5
29%
 
Total votes : 17

Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby TheRocket

Maybe this question is only for the Ronnie O'Sullivan Snookerfans but maybe others will take part too.
Which one, do you think, of the 5 World Championships he has won was the best performance/achievement in terms of Standard/Level he played? Despite the fact he has won the World this year after beeing a year out, for me it's still 2004. He was a bucking monster that year (especially subsequently at the Masters 2005). And despite having some troubles against Andy Hicks in the second round he was head and shoulders above everybody else. Especially his semi final against Hendry was pure magic.

So for me his performances at 2004 WC and 2005 Masters is the best he has ever played.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby SnookerFan

2004 was where he played the best. He looked unplayable. I don't think anybody could've beaten him that year. I remember Graeme Dott taking the first five frames of the final, and that seemed like a massive achievement in itself in the way Ronnie was playing.

I have the feeling that people will probably deem the 2013 World Championship his greatest triumph, as it was after a year off. (Just the BBC pundits will probably be mentioning it for years to come, let alone fans.)

For what it's worth, I think 2001 was the year he had the toughest final opponent.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby roy142857

Going for 2013, but not for the 'obvious' reason of the year out, I'm not convinced of the significance of that.

Two reasons I'm going for it

1. Defending Champion
2. Although his potting and break building might not have been as sensational as in 2004 or 2012 (the other years I considered), I thought his cue ball control this year was absolutely incredible.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby TheRocket

And yes, I have to agree with you Jewell. Besides all the titles he won and the level he played Ronnies biggest achievement probably was that he kept the sinking snooker ship alive. I remember how Snooker was about to die in the last decade (2005-2010). And he was the man who saved Snooker from the total downfall.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Wildey

TheRocket wrote:And yes, I have to agree with you Jewell. Besides all the titles he won and the level he played Ronnies biggest achievement probably was that he kept the sinking snooker ship alive. I remember how Snooker was about to die in the last decade (2005-2010). And he was the man who saved Snooker from the total downfall.

uhh????


refresh my memory.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby TheRocket

Wildey wrote:
TheRocket wrote:And yes, I have to agree with you Jewell. Besides all the titles he won and the level he played Ronnies biggest achievement probably was that he kept the sinking snooker ship alive. I remember how Snooker was about to die in the last decade (2005-2010). And he was the man who saved Snooker from the total downfall.

uhh????


refresh my memory.


I said that Ronnie O'Sullivan is the man who probably saved Snooker from the total downfall during the last years of the Rodney Walker period. That's my point. There is nothing to add. He was the man and the main attraction who still attracted the people and made sure that we had a full house. You don't need to be a fan of him to see that. That is the truth.

I just remember a very symbolic match where Ronnie O'Sullivan played against Mark Allen in the Welsh Open in front of a huge crowd while next door the current World Champion Higgins and Selby played in front of 4 or 5 people.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby SnookerFan

I remember being at Telford one year. Ronnie was playing Stuart Bingham on one table, and it seemed packed. So I decided to watch Shaun Murphy vs Patrick Wallace on another table. There was only about four or five of us in there. Between frames, CJ from Eggheads strolled in to watch. Instead of having his usual cushty BBC seat, he was sat amongst the people. (What few people there were.)

It was quite a surreal experience, considering you usually see him up in the gods at The Crucible. <laugh>

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Wildey

my point is that's a load of crap you needed players to make a match and equally Ronnie needed Higgins and vice versa then there was Ding and the emergence of Selby and Robertson to give Ronnie a match.

Ronnie just pushing his cue through wouldn't have saved rubbish on his own.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Muppet147

Wildey wrote:my point is that's a load of crap you needed players to make a match and equally Ronnie needed Higgins and vice versa then there was Ding and the emergence of Selby and Robertson to give Ronnie a match.

Ronnie just pushing his cue through wouldn't have saved rubbish on his own.


More gibberish.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Wildey

Muppet147 wrote:
Wildey wrote:my point is that's a load of crap you needed players to make a match and equally Ronnie needed Higgins and vice versa then there was Ding and the emergence of Selby and Robertson to give Ronnie a match.

Ronnie just pushing his cue through wouldn't have saved rubbish on his own.


More gibberish.

so Basically Ronnie standing around looking a bit Stupid playing nobody would have saved the sport <doh>

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Sickpotter

Ronnie....the saviour of snooker...

pmsl

Snooker might've had a quicker recovery and less sponsorship issues had Ronnie been more professional. His years of threatening to quit, pulling out of events, moaning about having to play was not helpful.

Ronnie's had many amazing achievements in snooker but saving the sport certainly isn't one of them, take off the fanboy glasses. <ok>

WC wise:

2013....first WC defense in decades, great accomplishment especially having been out of competition for a year.

2004....his best performance, absolutely untouchable that year :hatoff:

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Muppet147

I think winning his first world title in 2001 was his finest achievement, as winning your first is often the hardest. Also, he beat a tough opponent in John Higgins in the final.

His best individual performance, arguably, was in the 2008 semi-final where he wiped the floor with Hendry.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Wildey

Muppet147 wrote:I think winning his first world title in 2001 was his finest achievement, as winning your first is often the hardest. Also, he beat a tough opponent in John Higgins in the final.

His best individual performance, arguably, was in the 2008 semi-final where he wiped the floor with Hendry.

I agree with both points :shakehands: :shock:

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby PLtheRef

The best achievement I think is in 2008. This is probably the time when the question started being asked as to whether Ronnie could win another. Two potential championships had potentially dare say "gone astray" in 2005 and 2006 when you consider the opponents he would have had had he beaten the player who had eliminated him, he'd have been favourite to win the championship. 2008 showed, potentially alongside 2012 that he could keep the concentration required in the early stages of the championship to be able to push on when the business stages began compared to allowing concentration to wander early in other championships taking more out of him than he needed to or could afford.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Andre147

Jewell wrote:
Snooker Overdrive wrote:Ronnie's greatest ever achievement is the 2013 World Title.

I think he will be remembered by that victory the most. Just like Hendry is best known for his 1999 triumph.

However I assume he played even better in 2001 and 2004 standard wise.


He was untouchable in 2004. Played superbly all-round.

EDIT: He played Maguire, Hicks, Hamilton, Sourface and Dott that year, and Hicks was the only one that got anywhere near him.


You're a bit wrong, if you did indeed watch that Woerlds back in 04, you would know that in his first 2 rounds he was very edgy, especially against Hicks could easily have been beaten, but standard wise he was still brilliant, though I do regard 2013 as his greatest triumph.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Skullman

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Ronnie's greatest ever achievement is the 2013 World Title.

I think he will be remembered by that victory the most. Just like Hendry is best known for his 1999 triumph.

However I assume he played even better in 2001 and 2004 standard wise.


Just my personal opinion but I think Ronnie played better in 2012 than he did in 2013. I think his positional play/breakbuilding was slightly worse in 2012, but was more than made up for by his superior long potting and safety.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Wildey

Skullman wrote:While Barry Hawkins wasn't the tenth seed or higher, he was top 10 provisionally by the time he reached the final.

No disrespect to Barry he did Brilliantly to reach the Final but this years World Championship is the Worst ive seen in 32 years watching the championship.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Wildey

Jewell wrote:
Sickpotter wrote:For each of his WC wins, Hendry never faced an opponent outside the top 10.

Ronnie has only faced one in the top ten.

:john:


Yes, but it was a weaker era back then so it didn't mean as much to be ranked in the top 10.

If you look back through the rankings you'll see that someone like Dennis Taylor was ranked in the top 16 as late as 1994, and similarly Terry Griffiths was ranked in the top 16 as recently as 1997.

The fact that these two relics from the 70s and 80s could be ranked so highly in the 90-96 era just says it all, in my opinion.

and despite all the weak players around Ronnie couldn't reach a final until 2001 lol

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Alpha

Jewell wrote:
Wildey wrote:
Jewell wrote:
Sickpotter wrote:For each of his WC wins, Hendry never faced an opponent outside the top 10.

Ronnie has only faced one in the top ten.

:john:


Yes, but it was a weaker era back then so it didn't mean as much to be ranked in the top 10.

If you look back through the rankings you'll see that someone like Dennis Taylor was ranked in the top 16 as late as 1994, and similarly Terry Griffiths was ranked in the top 16 as recently as 1997.

The fact that these two relics from the 70s and 80s could be ranked so highly in the 90-96 era just says it all, in my opinion.

and despite all the weak players around Ronnie couldn't reach a final until 2001 lol


Ronnie's Crucible defeats pre-2001:

1995 Lost to Hendry
1996 Lost to Ebdon
1997 Lost to Morgan
1998 Lost to Higgins
1999 Lost to Hendry
2000 Lost to Gray

As you can see he has only lost to great players bar 97 and 2000. No relics from a bygone era. <ok>


I voted 2001 as at that time O'Sullivan was being compared to White as a great player who couldn't win the big one. Incidentally, O'Sullivan would only have lost to Hendry in the 1997 QF and Williams in 2000 (irregardless of his 9-1 Scottish Open win over Williams a week before the Crucible)

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby vodkadiet

When Hendry was at his prime O'Sullivan never got a look in. O'Sullivan had to wait until Hendry was well past his best to beat him at The Crucible.

The ironic thing is if Hendry had retired when he should have, there would be no debate as to who was the best of all time.

Hendry was actually well past his best when he beat O'Sullivan at the 2002 Worlds.

Re: Poll: R.O'Sullivans greatest triumph at the World (year)

Postby Wildey

Jewell wrote:
Wildey wrote:1996 and 1997 Hendry beat the players that beat Ronnie and 1995 and 1999 he decided to beat him himself <ok>


The 1999 World title win was by far and away Hendry's greatest achievement, without question. <ok>

In 1995 Ronnie was still rising through the ranks whilst Hendry was at the top of his game and confidence. So not a fair comparison, imo.

in 1995 Ronnie was UK and reigning Masters champion and had played in 5 ranking finals which is more than Judd had when he reached a World Final or for that matter same as judd played in now but judd has a World Final in his 6th season.