UK Championship snooker as Ronnie O'Sullivan chases win number eight

Is Ronnie's reign well and truly over?

Judd Trump said it, not me. Twitter is saying it, not me. Even the most loyal Ronnie fans are saying it, but not me. Is Ronnie O'Sullivan really done? Not for me.

The most decorated player in the history of the sport is apparently in the midst of a crisis, or even worse, a steady decline before retirement once and for all. Yeah, we've heard that old chestnut before. Only this time it isn't O'Sullivan who is waving the white flag; he appears happy and content to still be competing to a patently high level, despite being unable to add to his 37 ranking titles since collecting a sixth World Championship in 2020.

Since then, O'Sullivan has lost in five finals – all last season – while he was thrashed 6-1 by long-time rival John Higgins in the last eight of the Champion of Champions on Thursday night having recently lost to the same player in the semi-finals of the English Open. Still good, but not great, apparently. Not great enough to win trophies, anyway.

It was Trump who lit the fire to such a theory when telling Phil Haigh of the Metro that he believes O'Sullivan has 'lost of a little bit of the belief' and that 'no one is afraid to play him' anymore. Trump even had the temerity to say that O'Sullivan 'can't win an event to save his life at the minute'. How about that for an uppercut?

A closer look at the typically excellent interview – firstly from Haigh and equally the refreshingly open and honest Trump – confirms there is more to his words than just the headlines, and that Trump's great respect for O'Sullivan still remains. Nevertheless, comments such as those coming from a man who has increasingly had O'Sullivan's number over the last few years must have stung the Rocket.

Trump has now won the last three meetings between the pair, including when barely breaking sweat for a 6-1 victory at the World Grand Prix nearly a year ago. It's easy to paint a picture of the baton being handed from one genius to another. No, make that a crowd: Trump the usurper, gleefully, mercilessly, ushering in a new era.

While O'Sullivan might be able to easier handle losing to Higgins or Mark Williams – players and men he admires greatly – one senses that his relationship with Trump has never been like that. The young pup is playing on his patch and is almost boasting about it. O'Sullivan won't like that and while Father Time might well be catching up with him, I'm not convinced he's lost any of that fire in his belly that has propelled his rich talent to greatness for so long.

No, I'm not convinced he's done by a long chalk and Trump's comments, seemingly all the more justified after events at the Champion of Champions, might not have been appreciated by the rest of the tour. Trump might not think anyone else is scared of O'Sullivan, but I'm sure plenty are.

If you poke the bear, you should expect some retaliation and York might just be the perfect place for O'Sullivan to set the record straight and prove a few doubters wrong. After all, the UK Championship really has become his event, possibly even more so than the Masters. In winning seven times, three between 2014 and 2018, nobody has won more UK titles and it is clear that O'Sullivan loves the first leg of the Triple Crown.

York is a favourite place for many, but O'Sullivan seems particularly happy exploring the beauty of North Yorkshire in December and his results back that up. Forget last year when the event was held in Milton Keynes, even in 2019 when seemingly unfancied for the title, it took a dazzling display from eventual winner Ding Junhui to end O'Sullivan's run in the second week.

If he can find some form in an event you can often work your way into and channel some of this past year's frustrations, nothing is out of the question for a man who has spent his career defying belief and getting a kick out of proving people wrong. One thing is for sure, were O'Sullivan to gain some early momentum and start firing, the York faithful who have already claimed him as one of their own would do all they can to lift him to UK Championship win number eight. What a thought.

Robertson rested up and raring to go

I know snooker isn't football, and it certainly isn't rugby, but don't discount the toll it can take on the top players, those who are competing for titles at most tournaments and contending high-pressure finals. The likes of O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson have all talked about coming in and out of form throughout a season, and Neal Foulds made the same point here recently.

I really do think that rings true for some more than others. Robertson is a prime example, the Australian reaching three finals in as many events in early 2020 and winning twice. Thereafter, he steadily went off the boil and while some were surprised when he only made it as far as the last eight at the Crucible that year, it wasn't all that big a shock.

Last season, Robertson reached the final of the English Open and the Champion of Champions before going one better at the UK Championship. He then went quiet again until peaking for victory at the Tour Championship in March. It might be unfair to call Robertson streaky – he's a big player everywhere he enters – but I do think he targets certain events and is someone who can step up another level when he has to.

The UK Championship is one such event, and along with picking up the trophy for a third time last year, he reached the fourth round in the two previous years, losing to Yan Bingtao in 2019 and in a deciding frame to Mark Allen a year earlier.

It's hard to believe Robertson won't produce good snooker again in York and though his detractors might argue that he ought to have gone close in the Champion of Champions were he really close to hitting peak form again, I'd counter that and argue there was no disgrace in losing to Kyren Wilson in what was a terrific match in Bolton. It certainly did nothing to suggest that Robertson is not currently operating at a very high level.

Robertson beat the most consistent player of the season, the aforementioned Higgins, in a terrific final of the English Open previously, to confirm he is pretty hot right now. Don't be surprised if he reaches boiling point in the next couple of weeks.

Class of 2019 with plenty to prove

I can't remember too many pundits giving Ding Junhui much of a chance in 2019. Fewer still were talking up Stephen Maguire, for all a drunken conversation with the Scot in York's Bora Bora forever made Mags one of my favourites. I've got a selfie of us on my phone, but I'm not the editor here and me holding two Mojitos above my head isn't really befitting of a Sporting Life journalist.

But in 2019, this pair of underachievers reminded everyone of their outrageous talents to navigate their own paths to the final before producing a Sunday of snooker to befit any major tournament, played out between any of the game's greats. Ding would eventually win 10-6, but his four centuries were almost matched by Maguire's three in a match right out of the top drawer.

To watch Ding in full flight that week was to remember him when he first burst onto the scene; that precise cue-ball control and an insatiable appetite for compiling big breaks. It was those traits that meant his 2019 triumph would be his third UK title, to add to his Masters win in 2011. Fourteen ranking titles in total confirm what a giant of the sport he has been.

And to that end, perhaps I am unfair to suggest the Chinese has underachieved. Such a vast collection of silverware together with a World Championship final are the sort of achievements most can only dream of. The thing is, when Ding has been at his best, he has been better than that, for a time better than anyone else in the game, and while not winning the World Championship will rankle with many back home, I'm more inclined to wonder why the 2019 UK Championship was his first title win since the 2017 World Open, or why he hasn't reached another final since.

The pandemic hasn't helped players from the Far East, and we shouldn't underestimate the strain those not able to travel home must have been under, but Ding made five quarter-finals last season without winning one. He's better than that, too.

So is Maguire, who won two big events in that 2019/2020 campaign but has struggled badly since. I can't imagine Trump, or anyone else, ever accusing Maguire of being scared of anyone, and while he continues to frustrate, big matches and big events are just what gets him going.

Neither he nor Ding had shown too much coming into the 2019 renewal, and Maguire struggled badly with a virus in the first week that year, but both worked their way into the second week, finding form, building confidence and winning matches.

If either can do the same again in the coming days, it would be folly to discount the claims of these former winners who have proven their quality time and time again, if not always their consistency.