In an interview with Eurosport, O’Sullivan summarised his thoughts on winning the 2022 World Championship: “It was a relief to get the job done. It’s a professional job. It’s a test. That’s how I look at every tournament like that”.
On the build-up to the tournament and the preparation involved, Ronnie said: “You go there and prepare as well as you can so to win it is great, and it’s nice to win it at my stage in the game”.
Hard Start
In his first match of the tournament, O’Sullivan found himself 3-0 down against David Gilbert, but he was able to turn things around, winning the tie 10-5.
‘The Rocket’ coasted to a 13-4 victory against Mark Allen and beat former world champion Stephen Maguire 13-5 in the quarter-finals. Ronnie then had to face 4-time World Title holder John Higgins in the semis but managed to beat his long-term rival 13-5.
In the final, O’Sullivan battled another former World Champion and friend Judd Trump. Despite the quality and experience of his opponent, Ronnie would defeat Trump and bring home the title, edging the closely fought affair and winning 17 frames to Trump’s 11.
After his victory against Trump, O’Sullivan was joined by his family and friends, including his father and his children. Speaking about sharing the moment with family, Ronnie explained: “My dad was there for the whole three weeks of the tournament enjoying it and hanging out with a lot of snooker people who follow the game”, he said. “Then I thought it would be great if the kids could be there. It was a good experience for everyone”.
Describing the length of the tournament, O’Sullivan said: “It is such a long tournament and is a bit like the grand slams in tennis where they play 5 sets instead of 3”.
Worth It In The End
On the toll that the tournament took on him, O’Sullivan emphasised: “It is a long time playing at the World Championship, a lot of stress and I’m just recovering. Despite the gruelling nature of the World Championships and the stress he performed under, Ronnie was happy he put all of the effort that he did into the tournament. “It was hard work, but it was job done, so worth it”, O’Sullivan stated.
At the age of 46 years old, Ronnie O’Sullivan won his 7th World Championship at this year’s tournament, becoming the oldest player to win a World Title.
And Ronnie’s confident about his future in the sport: “I don’t think you can go from winning a World Championship to falling off the radar overnight, so it’s just a nice little confidence booster really”. “I’m 46 banging on 47, so to know I can still win it lets me know I could have another 5 decent years”, he added.
