Ronnie O’Sullivan continued his impressive run of form by winning the 2024 World Grand Prix on Sunday in Leicester.
The Rocket fought his way back from 4-0 behind to beat Judd Trump 10-7 at the Morningside Arena.
Success takes O’Sullivan to a record-extending 41 career ranking titles and marks his second of what is developing into a spectacular 2023/24 campaign.
The 48 year-old has now won 14 matches in a row on the World Snooker Tour, a special streak that also saw him pick up silverware in both the UK Championship and at last week’s Masters.
O’Sullivan also triumphed in the prestigious Shanghai Masters in China during the first half of this term.
The title-deciding showdown at the World Grand Prix paired the world numbers one and two against each other in a blockbuster battle.
But the outstanding occasion that many had predicted – especially after O’Sullivan’s mesmerising performance in the semi-finals – didn’t quite materialise.
While there was plenty of drama and tension throughout the day, neither competitor was able to produce at their highest levels.
At first, Trump was able to take advantage as he established a 4-0 cushion by the mid-session interval.
Yet the top seed, three times a ranking event winner this season himself, was nowhere near his best and looked increasingly edgy the longer the tie went on.
O’Sullivan scrambled his way back by winning three of the remaining four frames to trail by only two at the end of the opening session.
When the seven-time world champion missed an opportunity at the start of the evening’s play, Trump pulled three clear again and appeared to be let off the hook.
But breaks of 58 and 74 saw O’Sullivan quickly reduce the deficit to one, and he duly restored parity by taking a tight 12th frame on the black.
After he then moved in front for the first time, there were two pivotal moments that well and truly swung the encounter in his favour.
Trump had big opportunities to win the next two close frames, but he rattled the final black in the 14th frame and the brown in the 15th frame to eventually lose both.
To his credit, the Bristol potter dug deep and stayed in contention with a timely contribution of 73.
Trump then had a chance to get back to within one but played a poor positional shot and then a bad safety – allowing his illustrious opponent in to clear the colours and triumph 10-7.
O’Sullivan pockets the £100,000 champion’s cheque and victory over his fierce rival reaffirms his status as the best player in the world at present.
2024 World Grand Prix draw and schedule
Round of 32 (bo7)
Judd Trump 4-2 Jamie Jones
Lyu Haotian 4-3 Chris Wakelin
Mark Selby 4-3 Yuan Sijun
Ali Carter 4-3 Wu Yize
Barry Hawkins 3-4 Cao Yupeng
John Higgins 0-4 Shaun Murphy
Hossein Vafaei 4-3 Matthew Selt
Mark Williams 4-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Zhang Anda 4-2 Dominic Dale
Mark Allen 4-2 Jack Lisowski
Noppon Saengkham 4-1 Xiao Guodong
Ding Junhui 4-3 Ricky Walden
Tom Ford 4-1 Jordan Brown
Gary Wilson 4-2 David Gilbert
Zhou Yuelong 4-1 Stephen Maguire
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-2 Pang Junxu
Round of 16 (bo7)
Judd Trump 4-0 Lyu Haotian
Mark Selby 4-3 Ali Carter
Cao Yupeng 4-0 Shaun Murphy
Hossein Vafaei 1-4 Mark Williams
Zhang Anda 4-2 Mark Allen
Noppon Saengkham 1-4 Ding Junhui
Tom Ford 2-4 Gary Wilson
Zhou Yuelong 3-4 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Judd Trump 5-1 Mark Selby
Cao Yupeng 5-4 Mark Williams
Zhang Anda 2-5 Ding Junhui
Gary Wilson 1-5 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-2 Cao Yupeng
Ding Junhui 1-6 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Final (bo19)
Judd Trump 7-10 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Featured photo credit: WST
Ronnie O’Sullivan is closing in on one record that I thought he wouldn’t touch: Steve Davis’ record for professional tournament titles, excluding team or doubled titles, when he eclipses that record he will surely have every meaningful record in the sport that I can think of. If he eclipses Hendry’s 7 world titles and wins his first single season triple crown at the world championship this year he will be undisputed. I always think that a record is still in the “possession” of whoever sets it until it is truly broken, hence 7 snooker world championships in the modern era is Hendry’s record, equalled by O’Sullivan, just as Michael Schumacher’s 7 Formula 1 world titles is still his record, equalled by Lewis Hamilton at present.
Don’t agree that you own a record outright still when another team or player equals it. I’d consider it disrespectful to those who had tied the record.
One thing that has mildly irked me is how little has been made of O’Sullivan having now completed a major tournament hat-trick. In contrast, Trump’s October treble was rightly lauded across the snooker media. Just because the Masters isn’t ranked doesn’t make this less of a hat-trick. It could even be the first time in O’Sullivan’s career that he’s won three successive tournaments.
The problem with the record for winning most overall career titles is the conjecture over what counts. I personally think it should only be individual tournaments. I would also discard snooker variants such as Power Snooker.
O’Sullivan and Trump are now 6-6 in multi-session finals.
Murphy took home the high break prize for a contribution of 145.
You’re right in the sense that it’s three in a row that he has participated in, which is obviously amazing. But it’s not technically three in a row on the calendar, as the Shoot Out and the Scottish Open were in between the UKs and the Masters. Plus, he did enter Edinburgh only to withdraw at the last minute. So there’s a bit of a difference for me. Still hugely impressive though of course, and more prestigious events compared to Trump’s too.
It’s enough for me to count as a treble as he never lost in those events. In other sports calling it a streak seems unaffected by missing events. Tiger Woods once won six PGA Tour tournaments in a row but missed events during the run.
They’re both awesome trebles and their battle for seasonal supremacy is a fascinating narrative.
Just checked and Woods had another run some years later and won 7 events in a row. These runs coming in the most unpredictable sport on the planet!