Ronnie O'Sullivan's quest for a record eighth World Championship title ended in dramatic fashion at the Crucible as John Higgins fought back from 9-4 down to win 13-12 in a last-frame decider. The snooker icon was so certain of defeat that he had already arranged his journey home.
O'Sullivan's Shock Admission
Following the loss, O'Sullivan confessed: "I've got to be honest with you, I had a flight booked home early this morning because I wasn't sure if I'd get to the third session before the match started." He added: "I was realistic about my chances, John's strong, playing well, won tournaments the last couple of years. I haven't been in any big matches really for two years. These games, I know it's a different level."
O'Sullivan held commanding five-frame leads on two occasions but surrendered six consecutive frames over the closing two sessions. Higgins rattled in three century breaks on Monday before keeping his composure to seal the remarkable triumph.
Frustration and Anger
O'Sullivan allowed his lead to slip during a six-frame spell across Sunday and Monday, collapsing from 9-4 ahead to 10-9 adrift. He struck the table in frustration during the final frame of the middle session after a miss, yet insisted: "I wasn't even angry. I was quite frustrated. I thought: I missed another bloody important ball. How many of these am I going to keep missing? It was a nice sort of anger."
He explained: "In the last round I thought, rather than do the hands, do it with the cue. I missed the tough ball, it was just nice just to go bang. Then within a second, it's deleted and I'm cool as a cucumber really. I like to just get it out and it's just done, drawn a line under it, just move forward."
Backing Higgins to Win
Despite missing out on an eighth title himself, O'Sullivan is rooting for Higgins to claim a fifth crown. He remarked: "I think it'd be nice for him because I always said if you get beat in the quarters, it's not too bad because you've had a good workout, just over a week. But if you get beat in the semis or the final here then I'd rather get beat first round because truth be known, no-one really cares who gets beat in the final or the semi-finals."
He added: "If you get to the semis you've had to do 15 days, it's a long old slog. If you get to the final you've done 17 days. That's the worst experience for any snooker player, especially something like in a John and mine situation, so it'd be nice for John to go all the way but it's going to be tough."
