You might want to remember the date of Friday 14th August 2020. Because that was the date where two semi-finals went to deciders and finished in the most bonkers fashion. The final has massive shoes to fill!
Kyren Wilson forced himself into a decider against a phenomenally resurgent Anthony McGill. Then we were treated to one of the most agonising, tense and incredible final frames we will ever witness. On the other table, the majority of fans and pundits alike thought Ronnie O’Sullivan threw in the towel when he fell 14-16 behind against Mark Selby. But O’Sullivan roared back with breaks of 138, 71, 64 in the last three frames to win. Madness.
After weeks of heartaches, centuries, slices of luck, blood, sweat, tears and one maximum, only two players remain. Kyren Wilson and Ronnie O’Sullivan. Kyren will be making his World Championship final debut. Ronnie will participate in his seventh World final, his first since 2014, and will want to win his sixth World title.
Two players. One final. Two days. Four sessions. Thirty-five frames. One winner to be decided. Who do you think will win between The Rocket and The Warrior?
As always, World Snooker Tour provide the rankings of all players after the 2020 Tour Championship. The H2H records are taken from Cuetracker, excluding Championship League and Snooker Shoot-Out.
THE FINAL
Kyren Wilson (8) vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
H2H: O’Sullivan is leading Wilson 4-2.
Last Meeting: 2020 Welsh Open (Wilson winning 6-5).
Kyren Wilson – The Semis
Route to the final: Anthony Hamilton (w/o), Martin Gould (13-9), Judd Trump (13-9), Anthony McGill (17-16)
Kyren Wilson put up an incredible performance against Anthony McGill. Bear in mind he started the second session at 6-2 down. From then on he turned up the heat and performed like he did against Judd Trump and won the second session 6-2. He eventually lead for the first time in the match at 11-10. But when he started the final session leading 13-11, things changed. After McGill found his scoring boots on and was 16-15 up before Kyren secured the frame. Little did we know what was in store for us!
I’m not sure whatever I write does justice for the deciding frame between McGill and Wilson. But I’ll try.
After the decent breaks, McGill needed a snooker after failing to escape from Wilson’s snooker after eight attempts. Straight after, Wilson fouled on a safety shot and fouled again soon after. Eventually a red was over the pocket in such a way that they needed to hit the cushion on the opposite side of the table to pot it. After several attempts from both players, McGill potted the red and looked set to clear up until he snookered himself. After another safety-laden duel, Wilson flukes match-ball green, leaving McGill needing a snooker. Finally, Wilson pots the pink and he ended up winning that deciding frame 103-83.
What was lovely was that both Wilson and McGill were incredibly sporting. Kudos to McGill for being so gracious in defeat.
Kyren Wilson – The Aftermath
Wilson will be heavily relieved because that match would’ve scarred him for the rest of his career had he lost that. Most importantly, he didn’t and he has a lot to look forward to. As he said in his post-match interview, he needed a few beers! I’m sure plans to enjoy the occasion of reaching the final.
Kyren’s obvious strengths and weaknesses were highlighted constantly. His rest play is among the best and his attitude, determination and temperament are extraordinary. Kyren has got huge belief and to win the Worlds, something Ronnie does lack. The 28 year-old is called “The Warrior” for his ‘never say die’ attitude. Wilson held off fight backs from Trump and McGill and is willing to scrap it out when it matters. He won one frame against Martin Gould this event despite needing three snookers.
But his cue ball control is inconsistent and has left himself too further away from the object ball which has lead to many misses. More worryingly, it has let his opponents back in the match when he could’ve won the frame. He had an evening to recover from that semi-final and I cannot wait to see him in that final.
Ronnie O’Sullivan – The Semis
Route to the final: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (10-1), Ding Junhui (13-10), Mark Williams (13-10), Mark Selby (17-16)
Let’s just start with the snooker first.
In the first session, Ronnie O’Sullivan was on fire but with the only criticism being that he should’ve gone 6-2 up rather than 5-3. The second session was much better for Mark Selby, taking advantage of Ronnie’s unforced errors and carried on doing so in the third session. Arguably, the turning point was when Selby missed two opportunities to go 14-9 ahead and was pegged back to 13-11 instead. In the fourth and final session, he was 16-14 ahead due to some strange shot selection from Ronnie in the frame prior. And then …
Ronnie started going for everything. He rattled two frames in extremely quick fashion to turn this match into a decider and almost won the match in one visit before breaking down on 64. Selby had a chance to clinch it but a poor positional shot on the green to force a safety battle. Ronnie had some slice of good fortune getting out of snookers by snookering Selby twice. But after Selby left the final red on, it was Ronnie’s to clear and to complete a famous victory.
Ronnie O’Sullivan – The Aftermath
The post-match interviews from both players were incredibly baffling. Selby was outspoken, sorely claiming that Ronnie wasn’t showing him and the game enough respect. He highlighted that he was smashing balls when he attempted to escape from some of his snookers and claimed he was moving in his eyeline during one pivotal moment in the match. Was he saying it because he has a point or saying it only because he lost?
O’Sullivan’s interview was equally weird, where he constantly mentioned that he needed a proper cue action. Is this gamesmanship? Is this a way of deflecting high expectations away from him? Or is he just being brutally honest about his form? Before his semi-final match, he was telling people to “lump on Selby“! Some argue that his off-the-table antics comes across as tedious, self-deprecating and ungracious sometimes.
Moving onto the snooker, it’s obvious as to what his strengths are. Break-building, working among the balls and his long game has been immense. But he does break down by missing a simple shot more often and he does get wound up by his own play relatively easily at a cost of a frame. Many feel that the 44 year-old treats the World Championship contemptuously. But he has proven those doubters wrong by breaking into bouts of amazing play and that was certainly proved against Selby.
H2H
The two times Kyren has beaten O’Sullivan are on deciders. In their most recent meeting, Kyren scored breaks of 136, 94, 69, 64, 59, 52 to beating Ronnie in the 2020 Welsh Masters. Kyren was seriously unlucky not to beat O’Sullivan in the deciders of the 2018 Champion of Champions. But in the 2017 English Open, Ronnie was unstoppable, thrashing the youngster 9-2.
Both will be affected by their semi-final exertions. The final will be played in front of the crowd for the first time since the first day of this World Championship. Is it going to affect Ronnie, considering his health concerns at the beginning of this tournament? It seems almost unanimous that Ronnie is playing better without a crowd. Is the occasion of being in the World Championship final going to put too much pressure on Kyren? The last time a first-time finalist won the Worlds was Stuart Bingham back in 2015 and O’Sullivan is clearly far more experienced.
Ending
Usually I would make a prediction every round but this time I will make a mental note to myself. On this occasion, it is because choosing a scoreline can take away the fun of such a special final. I will say that I hope Kyren Wilson wins the World Championship. But Ronnie O’Sullivan is the favorite an more likely winner. It’s one of those ‘heart says and head says’ things.
It’s been a crazy World Championship. We might’ve seen different finalists had there been a crowd and that if it started as originally planned. But because of the horrific consequences of the pandemic, this wasn’t able to happen. But let us first be grateful that we actually have a World Championship when it seemed very likely it would never happen.
Sit down, initially relax and enjoy the game. It’s going to be a belter.
I will finish off with one of my favourite tweets ever that happened during the decider between Wilson and McGill. Just for light relief!
Please not that I do not take credit for the images used in this article.
