Has Mark Selby’s reign been ended by a 43 years old?

Mark Selby’s uninterrupted spell as world number one lasted, incredibly, 4 years. However, a certain Ronnie O`Sullivan took that spot after winning his 10th tournament (8th ranker) in two seasons.

It’s not been a great season for Selby, who will have to do well at the Crucible if he doesn’t want to drop a few more positions in the World Rankings. In fact Selby haven’t won a match since February, but that doesn’t overshadow how incredible an achievement it is that Ronnie has made it to the top of the World Rankings playing about half or less of what everybody else plays, and without making even a semifinal at the Crucible in the last two years.

Being younger than Ronnie, it’s obvious that normal circumstances considered, Selby will regain that position one day and will be back on top after his rival retires. Though, with the main event of the season about to arrive, the question is whether Ronnie can still add to his five world titles. 

Well, in my view, he’s favourite again after two years where even the books didn’t have him as the man to beat. 

Ronnie’s season has been very similar to Selby’s in 2016/17, when he was so favourite before the World Championship that everybody thought he was the winner before it even started. In one of the most dominating Crucible campaigns of recent years, he won that World Championship for nobody’s surprise.

He was so good that season that in most matches he’d be getting in early and clearing tables in first visits almost every frame. But most importantly he would win frames, matches or hang on to sessions he shouldn’t - the mental side of his game was so strong that he was never vulnerable.

And that’s exactly what Ronnie is doing this season. 60 centuries in 40 matches tells the tale - he’s flying most of the times. But he’s also hanging on to matches and battling through struggles so well that his success rate has been unbelievable. Victories against Kyren Wilson at the Champion of Champions, and Trump and Robertson at the Tour Championship, are good examples of times when Ronnie should’ve lost but took it all the way to the finish line and won.

Since the start of the season, when he joined SightRight after his most successful season ever last year, I said the only reason for him to do that was because he wanted to be successful again at the only place that let him down in recent years, Sheffield. Watching him play at this point, shows clearly that it’s not only form, but hard work that makes his game be at this level. You can tell that by his cue-ball control and his cueing that he’s putting the hours in. 

You will never get Ronnie speaking fondly of the Crucible. He loves saying he doesn’t give a damn about it, but make no mistake - the World Championship is the only tournament he’s never missed after becoming professional. He’s once asked World Snooker publicly to be allowed in, and he also came back only to play it after a whole season off. 

He’s definitely driven by it whatever he speaks out, and his words after winning the Tour Championship that he’d be “very surprised” if none out of Trump, Robertson or himself win in Sheffield this year, tells you that he’s going for it.

O`Sullivan definitely hit the peak of his consistency and has the perfect game to bring to the Crucible this year. But as we know, in Snooker anything can happen and that doesn’t mean Ronnie will win it - he was an even heavier favourite in 2016 and lost in Round 2. 

Robertson and Trump are obviously the other big two contenders; Ding is picking and choosing his tournaments a lot, that has limited his success, but he’s been good at the Crucible lately and should be looked at; Selby is always a threat and so difficult to beat in Sheffield regardless of his form; Mark Williams will be defending his title after a ‘more or less’ season and whatever his campaign at the Crucible turns out to be like this year, I won’t be surprised, be that a fourth title or a first round exit; Allen and Kyren Wilson are two to watch - I don’t expect either to win, but they could go deep depending on the draw.

I’m giving Ronnie a 50/50 chance to win it. One very good session per match and it’s his, and even if he doesn’t have that, I think his lowest level right now is very high due to how hard he’s practicing, and with that game he can fight anyone. One player that might have the edge of him is Trump, who beat him convincingly at the Masters and should’ve beaten him at the Tour Championship semifinals, but being number one Ronnie ain’t likely to play him before a best of 33 and under those conditions I fancy Ronnie over anybody at the moment. 

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