Ronnie O’Sullivan breaks Crucible record for fastest win
When the first-round draw for the Snooker World Championship pitted Ronnie O’Sullivan against Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, everyone expected a fast match – the two are known as the fastest players on the tour. But the match-up turned out to be very one-sided. O’Sullivan demolished Un-Nooh, punishing every mistake and winning 10-1 in the fastest match ever played at the Crucible theatre.
On Sunday, O’Sullivan stormed ahead, opening with two centuries and five further breaks of 60 or more to open an 8-1 lead. He never looked less than certain, and he breezed around the table, wrapping up the session in just under an hour and half (82 minutes). On Monday, he needed less than half an hour to win the two frames needed to end the match. The total match time was 108 minutes, comfortably beating the previous record of 149 minutes set by Shaun Murphy in a whitewash victory over Luo Honghao last year.
O’Sullivan said: “I’m not really bothered by records – I stopped bothering about records when I reached them and they didn’t really give you that buzz for very long. They’re nice when you’re chasing them but once you get them they’re overrated in many ways. So I think you just take each game as it comes and it’s just nice to be out there playing some snooker.”
The five-time world champion had an average shot time of just 13.41 seconds
Whether or not he had the record in mind, it can’t be denied that O’Sullivan’s performance was a blistering one. He achieved a 101 break in less than six minutes, and he hit a fantastic break of 115 in the third frame – at that point, Un-Nooh’s highest break was six points, the result of a foul on the pink by O’Sullivan. The numbers really speak for themselves – the five-time world champion had an average shot time of just 13.41 seconds, and a pot success of 93% to Un-Nooh’s 80%. On every stat, O’Sullivan outclassed his opponent. There’s a lot of respect between the two players, but it didn’t translate to the table, where it was a total demolition.
It wasn’t that Un-Nooh played poorly, excusing some surprising misses or misjudged safety shots, but that he rarely had a chance to get going. When O’Sullivan was on the table, he dominated, and he punished every error made by his opponent. Over 11 frames, he potted 277 balls to his opponent’s 52, scoring 989 points in the process. Comparatively, Un-Nooh had a match total of 188, less than a fifth of the points of his opponent.
There was a lot of speculation on who would benefit from the lack of a crowd
On the first day of the tournament, limited numbers of spectators were allowed into the Crucible, but government guideline changes meant none could attend thereafter. There was a lot of speculation on who would benefit from the lack of a crowd, and it appears that O’Sullivan was one of them. After the match, he told BBC Sport: “I prefer it. I do not have to deal with the pressure and expectation of the crowd, getting in and out of the venue, and so much less is put on my shoulders.
“It feels like a holiday buzz and I can stay in a hotel close to the venue. Previously it has been difficult for me to get any peace and quiet. I am very private, and I don’t socialise much. Everybody is welcome to my world now, it suits my life.”
After winning this match, O’Sullivan will face Ding Junhui in the second round. The Chinese player struggled in a match against Mark King, who fought back to take Junhui to a deciding frame after a fluke on the pink. Junhui eventually won 10-9. After the match, he said: “I am feeling good and I am hitting the ball well, but it is difficult to play in the summer with this humidity. But I did not fear that I was going to lose this match.”
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