2011/12 – Ronnie is player of the year
The snooker awards night took place yesterday, 10 May 2012, in Dorchester and here is the outcome
Rocket Named Player Of Year
11th May 2012
Ronnie O’Sullivan was named World Snooker Player of the Year at the sport’s annual awards ceremony in London on Thursday night.O’Sullivan was crowned Betfred.com World Champion last Monday and also won the PartyPoker.com Premier League, PartyPoker.net German Masters and two Players Tour Championship events during a prolific season.
The 36-year-old from Chigwell was also voted Snooker Writers Player of the Year by the sport’s leading journalists.
The Fans Player of the Year award, voted by thousands of fans from around the world, went to Judd Trump. Snooker’s young sensation won the williamhill.com UK Championship last December as well as two PTC events.
Rookie of the Year went to Belgium’s 17-year-old wonderkid Luca Brecel, who recently became the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible.
Stuart Bingham took the Performance of the Year award for capturing his first world ranking title by beating Mark Williams 9-8 in the final of the Australian Goldfields Open.
The Magic Moment award went to Stephen Hendry for his magnificent 147 maximum break at the Crucible, which came just days before he announced his retirement.
Four players were inducted into snooker’s Hall of Fame; those who had won the World Championship on more than one occasion who had not already been inducted. They were Walter Donaldson, Mark Williams, John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Full list of awards:
World Snooker Player of the Year: Ronnie O’Sullivan
Snooker Writers Player of the Year: Ronnie O’Sullivan
Fans Player of the Year: Judd Trump
Rookie of the Year: Luca Brecel
Performance of the Year: Stuart Bingham
Magic Moment of the Year: Stephen Hendry’s 147
147 Club (players making a 147 during the season): Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mike Dunn, David Gray, Ricky Walden, Ding Junhui, Jamie Cope, Matthew Stevens, Marco Fu, Robert Milkins, Stephen Hendry
Hall of Fame inductees: Walter Donaldson, Mark Williams, John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan.It was revealed at the awards ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel that over £110,000 has been raised this season for Haven House, including £25,000 donated by Betfred.
Haven House Children’s Hospice is World Snooker’s official charity for this season
World Championship 2012 – Ronnie is your Champion!
Ronnie beat Ali Carter 18-11 to become World Champion for the fourth time. He played some fantastic snooker in spells through the tournament and was clearly pleased with his own attitude when things didn’t go that well. He described having his son there cheering on him and celebrating with him as the best feeling in the World.
And don’t worry, he’s not retiring just yet. But he appealed to the snooker authorities to take the needs of the players into account and treat them in a fair way.
Listen here to Ronnie’s press conference
World Championship 2012 -SF- Ronnie beats Matthew Stevens 17-10
Ronnie booked his place in the World Championship Final with a 17-10 victory over Matthew Stevens. Although the scoreline might look “comfortable”, it was a hard fought, high quality and entertaining match. Ronnie was full of praise for his opponent.
He also spoke highly of his opponent in the final, Ali Carter. He’s clearly determined to give it his best to win the tournament but is certainly not carried away.
Also reflecting on his 20 years long career, he said he had a great one but hinted again that he might retire after this tournament, or at least take a long break from snooker. Clearly, there is no bitterness there. Just the desire to have time for himself, his family, for doing other things … and simply enjoying his life. Whether he will do it, remains to be seen. For now, it’s Final time. Good luck Ronnie.
Listen here to Ronnie’s press conference
World Championship 2012 – QF – Ronnie beats Neil Robertson 13-10
Ronnie booked his place into the semi finals by beating Neil Robertson 13-10 tonight. It was a tense and very high quality contest where both players displayed loads of skills and great fighting spirit. Neil was full of praise for his opponent and so was Ronnie. Thank you guys, this was a real treat for the fans
Listen here Ronnie’s press conference
World Championship 2012 -R2- Ronnie beats Mark Williams 13-6
Ronnie booked his place in the quarter finals of the World Championship with a rather comfortable 13-6 win over Mark Williams. Ronnie was 2-3 down at first but then won 9 frames on the spin, playing his best snooker in a very long time. Despite this he refuses to be carried away and insists that anyone reaching the last 8 is a great player and, hence, able to win the tournament. He will now play Neil Robertson.
listen here to Ronnie’s postmatch interview
World Championship 2012 – R1 – Ronnie beats Peter Ebdon 10-4
Ronnie had possibly the hardest possible draw when he faced Peter Ebdon in round one of the World Championship 2012. A lot of people were expecting a similar scenario to what happened in 2005, when Peter beat Ronnie in the quarter final 13-11 from 2-8 down. But nothing of the sort happened this time as Ronnie prevailed 10-4 with, it had to be said, some run of the balls.
Ronnie was pleased with his own attitude, but wasn’t carried away about the current level of his game. He said he’s happy to be through and will be taking one match at a time, hopefully winning a few more.
You can hear the full press conference here
China Open 2012 – QF – Stephen Maguire beats Ronnie 5-4
Both players offered the public a thrilling and very high quality contest that ended in the most possible dramatic way with Stephen Maguire fluking the re-spotted black in the decider. To be fair Stephen Maguire had looked the better player for most of the match, but Ronnie showed his fighting qualities, coming back from 0-2 to 2-2, from 2-3 to 3-3, from 3-4 to 4-4, only to miss the difficult last and frame-ball red in the decider after losing position. Maguire duly potted it but was forced to go for the blue and could only tie from there.
Re-spotted black it was and after Ronnie first shot at it had left the black near the cushion not too far away from the middle pocket, Maguire attempted the double, missed it and got the trebble… Ronnie took it very sportsmanly and went all smiles to congratulate his opponent.
After the match Ronnie said
All credit to Stephen really, he played a good match, a close match. He’s been a solid player all year, he’s a top player and you’ve got to give credit to Stephen because he hung in well there and he made a clearance at the end to get us to the re-spot as well.
It’s just the way it goes. It’s one of those shots he fancies, there’s a good chance you’re going to get those cross doubles. I didn’t think he was going for it because he was hitting it thin, I thought he was playing safe. But then he hit it quite hard and I thought he’d missed it, obviously it went over the second time and went in but that’s the type of shot you can get. It’s not a hard double but obviously it was an all-or-nothing shot and it went in for him.
It wasn’t a bad game to be involved in. There always has to be a winner and there always has to be a loser and I think a lot of credit has to go to Stephen for winning that match. It looks like it’s just come down to one ball but there were nine frames played there, a lot of good snooker played and maybe he deserved it today.”
That’s the end of the China Open 2012 for Ronnie but he should be proud of his performance overall given the ongoing health problems he suffered since last December. Now the most important is to get fit and ready for the big one in Sheffield in three weeks from now.
China Open 2012 – R2 – Ronnie beats Mark J. Williams 5-1
Ronnie looked a lot better today and booked his place into the quarter finals in less than two hours, with a comfortable 5-1 victory over Mark J. Williams. Despite a few errors, he looked solid and relaxed. His safety game and long potting were both very good.
After his match, Ronnie said
All credit to Mark because he’s had a great season, he’s been in some finals, he’s number two in the world. He’s one of the top four or five most consistent players on the circuit. I was just happy to get a win against him today and pleased to get through.
Each match is different. One day you play good, one day you play not so good. Today was a bit better than yesterday. Form is a funny thing, as long as you’re playing steady and consistently you give yourself a chance of winning.
I slept well last night which is always a good thing and felt more fresh and energised today. I enjoy playing in the afternoon because you get up and you haven’t got long to wait for your match, it’s nice to just get on with it, maybe that’s helped with my performance. You just want to get out there, as soon as you get out there the adrenaline starts to get going.
He will play Stephen Maguire tomorrow.
Well done Ronnie and have some good rest ahead of tomorrow’s match!
China Open 2012 – R1 – Ronnie beats Marcus Campbell 5-4
A very out of sorts Ronnie came back from 0-3 down to beat Marcus Campbell 5-4 today in Beijing. Ronnie was nowhere near his best but fought extremely hard to book his place in round 2 where he will meet Mark J. Williams. This is a very good result given that Ronnie’s preparation was far from ideal due to his ongoing health problems.
After his match Ronnie said:
All credit to Marcus, he’s had a great season and been a top player for a few years. We had a good match there, he was up 3-0 so a lot of credit goes to Marcus but I was pleased to get through in the end.
I tried hard, it was a difficult start, I got no luck. Everything went against me, I just didn’t feel like I was getting into the game. I lost a couple of black ball games, so it was hard really. Then after the break the balls went a bit better for me.
I tried to go for a 147, but I don’t try to fulfil anybody’s needs, I just go out there to try and do the best job I can do. If they’re happy with that then great, but if not then there’s not a lot I can do about that. All I can do is try my best on any given day, which I do. Sometimes you play brilliant matches and brilliant tournaments and some days you don’t.
My doctor has told me not to play. He’s told me to take a long break so I’m probably playing against doctor’s orders. It’s hard if you keep missing tournaments. I just decided to take a risk and see how I feel when I came out here. Also the Chinese fans have been superb to me over the years so it’s nice to come and see them and perform for them.
Ronnie pulls out of the PTC Grand Final 2012
O’Sullivan Withdraws From PTC Finals
16th March 2012
Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of the Betfair Players Tour Championship Grand Finals in Ireland for medical reasons.O’Sullivan, who is suffering from glandular fever, was due to face Ricky Walden in the last 16 of the tournament, tonight at the Bailey Allen Hall in Galway. However World Snooker was advised of his withdrawal this morning.
Walden receives a bye to the quarter-finals.