Ronnie O’Sullivan showed grit and determination to win first-round match
It’s an honour for any snooker player to walk out into the Crucible Theatre at 10am on the first Saturday, introduced to the crowd as the defending champion. It’s now a tradition that last year’s winner kicks off the competition, and plays their match to a finish on the opening day. However, it can also prove to be something of a banana skin in terms of scheduling. If you win, you can breathe easy, if you lose, you feel as if you’re out of the tournament before it’s even begun.
Ronnie O’Sullivan faced no such fears. Despite a shaky performance in the first session, the 2020 champion ultimately cruised to a 10-4 win over debutant Mark Joyce to secure his place in the second round. It was typical of O’Sullivan to finish the match how he did, knocking in three century breaks on the spin to leave Joyce dumbstruck.
It was a game that proved the value of the World Championship’s multi-session matches. The first session was a strange affair, with mistakes abounding, something that isn’t altogether rare in that 10am slot on the first Saturday. Although neither player was in good form, the first session was where Joyce lost the match. Against O’Sullivan, you have to punish his mistakes when they come, yet Joyce looked nervous on his maiden Crucible outing, and the defending champion was no-doubt delighted to end the session with a 6-3 advantage.
Joyce took the first frame on the restart that evening, but in doing so he only triggered a barrage of trademark magic from O’Sullivan. Last year, en route to winning the title, he kicked off with a rip-roaring 10-1 win over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. In the last four frames against Joyce, that same explosive form came out, but overall, this was a much sterner mental test for O’Sullivan, and in the end, he passed with flying colours.
There was a time in O’Sullivan’s career when the type of snooker played in the opening session would have driven him mad. Both players were missing easy pots, seemingly struggling with the table conditions, and the O’Sullivan of old may well have become frustrated and lost focus. However, the six-time world champion kept his cool throughout, displaying an air of calm which contrasted with the pent-up frustration of his opponent. O’Sullivan’s attitude is undoubtedly what brought him through that first session with a healthy lead, along with his ability to play the percentages and do the dirty work when not on blistering scoring form.
It’s often hard to judge a player’s odds to win the World Snooker Championship 2021 after the first round, especially if they have simply steamrolled their opponent by playing high-scoring snooker. The World Championship is a marathon of the mind, and there will be sessions where a player cannot produce that blistering form, but O’Sullivan’s win over Joyce was an interesting microcosm of every attribute needed to do well in Sheffield.
What was clear for all to see is that O’Sullivan is switched on and determined to get his hands on a seventh world title, to equal Stephen Hendry’s record in the Crucible era. With a favourable quarter of the draw awaiting him, and a strong mental focus to overcome the pressure of playing on the first day of the tournament, O’Sullivan may well fancy his chances of winning the sport’s biggest prize once more.
