by SnookerEd25 » 22 Apr 2020 Read
I suppose there are some matches that look pretty sh*t from the word go, and therefore don't stick in the memory for long, and a lot of the 1st round matches in the 80s fell into that category - more often than not, a hapless out-of-his-depth qualifier was served up as cannon-fodder for the established seed to get the feel of the table and the arena, and play his way into the tournament; there were an awful lot of 10-5s and lower in the first round throughout the decade.
More frustrating for me is when a match looks like it has the potential to go down in history, and instead fizzles out into a damp squib.
Which is why the sh*ttiest match for me was Ronnie O'Sullivan v Tony Drago in the '96 tourney; I was a bit of a Drago fan at the time, as when it all clicked he was one of the most fluent and exciting players to watch. He'd had a decent start to the year by picking up one of his 2 professional titles (the Invitational 1996 Guangzhou Masters) and had blitzed the ever-capable Steve James 10-2 in the 1st round to set up the match with Ronnie.
Both seemed to be playing well, and I was looking forward to a toe-to-toe shootout that was going to leave the referee breathless.
It started well enough, Drago took the first with a 50+, and levelled at 2-2 at the first MSI thanks to a 144. But then, he started to unravel. In the 6th, at 3-2 down, Drago was in with a 57 and a couple of balls away from the frame when he missed and let Ronnie in - RO'S clearing with a 62 and, with hindsight, the writing was already on the wall for Drago.
By the end of the first session, it was 6-2; 12-4 at the end of the second and all over after the first frame of the third.
Not the worst match, technically - Ronnie had 2 centuries and 7 50+'s, but from the anticipation I had beforehand it remains the most disappointing Crucible encounter in my 40 odd years of watching the tournament.
I also, at the time, was convinced that Drago would win a ranker at some point. This match lowered my expectation and taught me to just enjoy him when he was in full-flow, but not to expect anything in advance as he could come out some days and look like an average club player.