SNOOKER: Class of '92 - Defeat for O'Sullivan in World Championship classic

Declan Link & Jon Bonfiglio return to the Crucible and the classic match between Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins which ended in 13-12 scoreline. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:19

Hi everyone, welcome back to World Sports, etc. Well, today we're picking up on the World Snooker Championships where uh Declan and I a few days ago did a feature on Snooker in general and specifically how we kind of fell in love with the sport or were forced, coerced into falling in love with the sport. And we spoke at length of some of the uh some of the great players that have um that have adorned the uh uh the the green, the bays, uh, and we spoke, of course, about Ronnie O'Sullivan, arguably the greatest player that has ever uh that has ever walked the earth, um, as well as the sort of transition between from say the Western Hemisphere across to to China as well. And we just wanted to pick up on some of those conversations very specifically uh with the last of 16 round between John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan, which John Higgins won 13-12 in a best of uh 25 uh match. Uh Declan, did you watch some of it? Did you follow it? What was your sense of that? I mean, that's got to be one of the greatest matches of all time, I think.

SPEAKER_05 1:27

I followed, I didn't actually have the time to watch it directly, but subsequently I've caught up on everything. And actually, there were two incredible stories. I'm not sure if you're aware of that. Obviously, Ronnie O'Sullivan lost in a very, very close uh 1312 thriller to John Higgins, and that was what they call a classic chapter in the famous class of 92 rivalry, uh, because obviously they've both been going for a long time. O'Sullivan had actually been leading 9-4, but Higgins stormed back and won in the final frame decider. So Ronnie was chasing a record eighth world title, as we discussed uh the other s the other week. So this is a massive moment in the championship, and probably will mean that Ronnie O'Sullivan will definitely come back next year. But the other big story, and I don't know if you saw this or not, but the biggest upset arguably of the tournament so far was, and I do apologize in advance because I butchered his name last time, my favourite Iranian snooker player, that's Hossein Vefi. He beat Judd Trump 13-12 as well in the deciding frame. And um he was one of the Trump had led multiple times during that game and was one of the tournament favourites, but Vauci held his nerve with massive breaks in the last match, including a 91 in the decider. And um that's his first crucible theatre quarterfinal, and one of the landmark wins for uh my favorite Iranian snooker player.

SPEAKER_03 2:55

Your favorite Iranian snooker player. Now there's a phrase that isn't uttered uh uh very very regularly. Hossein Verfild, is that the uh is that the pronunciation? Yes, uh let's go with that. I've I've learned that straight from you. So if I've got it wrong and uh and we get hate mail uh or critical mail, then I'm gonna I'm gonna blame I'm gonna blame you much in the same way as uh is as if we if we get any uh critical mail complaining about the pronunciation of Vasa Compagni, then uh then I'll blame uh our erstwhile colleague Paul Schmidroshka. As you say, Declan, uh Higgins was behind. Higgins was out. Ronnie O'Sullivan was storming through uh 9-4 ahead. Higgins, there was that that evening session a few days ago where Higgins just sort of just kept up um to to speed. He was just on Ronnie's shoulder, and then the next morning he he took the lead. And then for those last few um for those last few sets, he just went back and forth until they were obviously 12 all. And then Higgins took the decider at 13-12. And it's one of those things that when Snooker is that tense, you know, because we're used to sport being live and fast and furious, um, and following the noise around it. But sometimes when you have a quiet sport, a sport where the details, the percent, the minor percentages are where somebody missing a single red or following in, as um Ronnie O'Sullivan did, with a white ball after potting a red, where very simple mistakes uh take place and they affect the entire outcome of the match. And I thought what was interesting, one of the things which was interesting as well about the that match was um watching the audience was almost as interesting as watching the match itself because they were all absolutely on tent to hooks.

SPEAKER_05 4:50

Yeah, a little bit like everyone around the world watching the Champions League semi-final today. I mean, who would have thought that a game would end up being as fantastic as it was and as exciting edge of the seat stuff? But no, John John Higgins is he's 50 years old. He's only, you know, he's he's he's not really, really old, but by snooker standards with this generational handover at the moment, particularly with the young Chinese players, you know, he he is renowned for for when he's on his game producing genius level snooker. And um his comeback win over Ronnie O'Sullivan definitely reminded everyone of how dangerous uh John Higgins could be. And and you know, he's he when when I saw him interviewing if he if matches become tense and technical and uh tactical and exhausting like uh like you were just talking. So Higgins may actually that might be the environment, that those might be the the the ingredients for the recipe for him to go the whole way.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

Yeah, very possibly, because I mean uh either he's gonna go the whole way or he's gonna get knocked down the next round, right? Um but just worth just let's quickly remember you you referred to the class of '92, and that of course refers to um not just John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan, uh, of course, legendary sneaker players, but also Mark Williams, who all turned professional in the 1992-93 season. They're all born in 1975, uh, and they've basically dominated the sport for over three decades. And get this uh for stats, Declan, collectively securing 14 world titles, 39 triple crown titles, and over a hundred uh ranking titles. And I thought what was really interesting was that we'll come to it in a second, but there's there's been this whole chalk gate issue with the fact that Ronnie uh O'Sullivan uses different chalk to everybody else and leaves a mark on the uh on the bays. And uh John Higgins was asked about this, and it was so interesting watching him talk about Ronnie because he basically sort of dismissed it outright. And he just said, Well, you know, why wouldn't you use whatever you want to use when you have an I quote better cue ball control than anybody else? And what was he he had just beaten Ronnie O'Sullivan, but the at the utter, almost childish admiration that he expressed in that interview and with those words for Ronnie O'Sullivan, I thought really told a story.

SPEAKER_05 7:05

Yeah, shades of me having watched Lionel Messi for the first time and maybe the last time a few months ago when I was like a child in a uh toy store who had got possession of the keys. A child in a toy store that had got possession of the keys. I've not heard that one before. Is that a well-known phrase from Orlando? It is, trust me, I'm not that original. I didn't just make that up. That's a well-pointed phrase. I'm sure I've I've plagiarised from someone somewhere sometime.

SPEAKER_03 7:33

Uh that that that's um uh that's brilliant. Uh just quickly on chalk gate, yeah. Ronnie some a couple of players have suggest he should be banned because he uses different chalk to everybody else, and it leaves a mark on the uh on the on the on the green, um, on the snooker table. Presumably we're dismissing that outright as just being people who don't want Ronnie around anymore because unless you're John Higgins, he just stuffs you outright.

SPEAKER_05 7:57

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure it's just a storm in a teacup. No, no, but no big deal as far as I'm concerned. But the actual two interesting points, um Zhao Xing Tong, who is the uh uh defending champion, uh, there is something called the uh crucible curse, and he is still in the tournament uh because no first-time crucible winner has ever actually successfully defended the title since the tournament was moved there to the crucible in Sheffield in 1977. So that superstition is called the Crucible Curse. And the quarterfinal lineup is is really quite fascinating with some very well-known uh names still in it, combined with a couple of the Chinese guys, including Zhao, because Zhao is playing Sean Murphy, Mark Allen is playing Barry Hawkins, our boy John Higgins is playing Neil Robertson, and the other Chinese guy, Wu Yize, plays my favourite Iranian Husing.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

Um Zhao Zing Tong and the Crucible Curse. Is that the the title of a sort of sub-Harry Potter pulp fiction novel for 13-year-olds, I think?

SPEAKER_05 9:04

It sounds like it very well could be, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_03 9:06

Declan, thanks so much. Uh, we'll pick up, of course, you've got it and a few days left of uh until the weekend of the um of the upcoming uh matches of the Crucible and the World Championship, and I'm sure we'll come back and and discuss uh other topics that emerge from that. But for the moment, thank you so much. Great, thanks, John.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

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SPEAKER_05 9:24

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SPEAKER_04 9:42

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SPEAKER_00 9:49

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