Ronnie O’Sullivan says the aim of every snooker match is to ‘trounce your opponent as quickly as possible’ and that is what Kyren Wilson is doing better than anyone else so far at the World Championship this year.
The Warrior is the first man into the final after beating Dave Gilbert 17-11 on Saturday afternoon, powering for the finish line after the game was locked at 9-9.
Wilson brushed aside Dominic Dale 10-1 and Joe O’Connor 13-6 in his first two outings, before beating John Higgins 13-8 in the quarters, not being pushed close by any of his opponents so far.
The Rocket has been impressed, feeling that Wilson is playing at a quicker pace around the table, looking more aggressive and getting the rewards.
‘He’s speeded up his game and the idea is to trounce your opponent as quickly and as fast and as efficient as you can,’ O’Sullivan said on Eurosport. ‘That’s what he’s been doing this tournament better than anybody.
‘If you want to win tournaments regularly you want a long career, you’ve got to get them out the way lively, without much effort.
‘It sounds easy but there’s an art to it and once you find that secret, to have long sustained periods of success it’s got to come easy, you can’t keep grinding it out, you’ll end up doing your own head in.’
O’Sullivan fell at the quarter-final stage to Stuart Bingham and it is either Bingham or Jak Jones who will take on Wilson in the final, starting on Sunday.
The Rocket reckons Wilson will be favourite against either, but that is no bad thing for him.
‘I think Kyren enjoys the pressure of being favourite to win a match,’ said the seven-time world champion. ‘There’s some players here that don’t enjoy it, I think Bingham struggled with it a little bit.
‘But I think Kyren thinks if he’s the favourite he really enjoys that pressure. There’s different types of pressure and to be the favourite of the tournament, I think he’ll handle it better than the others in the tournament.’
The 32-year-old has been to a Crucible final before, losing to the Rocket in 2020, but O’Sullivan feels he has improved his game since then, even if he is just making ‘micro improvements’ in his own mind.
‘He’s a battler, he never gives in, always plays the table doesn’t seem to play the scoreboard,’ said the 48-year-old. ‘You can go 9-4 up against him but if you drop your pace he’ll just keep potting balls, he won’t think, oh it’s over.
‘Which is a great asset to have, and he’ll have that for the rest of his career.
He’s obviously been working on stuff and you can always brush up on stuff and I think that’s what he’s been doing over the last few years.
‘Maybe thought he had to improve his cue ball control, probably worked on that, you make micro improvements but micro improvements at this level are massive in your own head.
‘You think you’re playing that shot better than you used to be, that’s nice to have in your locker. In his own mind he feels like he’s a better player than he was. It would be hard to judge that if you were to watch him from four or five years ago, but in his own mind if he feels like he’s a better player that’s all that matters.’
MORE : Dave Gilbert on ‘bonkers’ Crucible after Kyren Wilson semi-final defeat
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