Ronnie O’Sullivan retains World Championships

Defeating Barry Hawkins 18-12 in a Crucible Classic.

O’Sullivan became only the third person to defend the World Championship at the Crucible after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry. In doing so he won his 5^th World Title and 25^th ranking event.

Before the final many pundits were predicting a procession, with O’Sullivan winning with a session to spare. After he took the opening two frames most people were worried. However the most important person wasn’t, Barry Hawkins replied by taking the next three frames. It was the first time O’Sullivan had fallen behind in the tournament and let him know, his opponent, unlike so many who had fallen before, would not be intimidated.

O’Sullivan won every session by the odd frame, just extending his lead enough to always keep Barry at bay. Hawkins could win a few on the bounce but not the three of four that might put O’Sullivan under pressure. There were only two frames which could have gone either way and O’Sullivan took both on the black.

The play was of the highest standard and although the final lacked a tense finish there was no shortage of top drawer snooker. O’Sullivan recorded Six centuries and equalled Mark Selby’s record for a single match at the Crucible. He also hit thirteen throughout the tournament and overtook Stephen Hendry's overall record of most centuries at the World Championships.

The tournament won’t be remembered as a classic, it was good but nothing special. Too many of the top contenders played massively below par and there was a lack of close finishes. It was good for the future that Lisowski and White made their debut’s and got them out of the way, they will be contesting in years to come and the fun factor that was Dechewat Poomjaeng. The performances of Ding, Selby and Robertson however were extremely disappointing.