The 2022 World Snooker Championships are continuing at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, and as the competition gets better, it has produced a number of players who have advanced to the second round, the most concerned is undoubtedly the performance of defending champion Selby, as well as the performance of world number one O'Sullivan, the two easily passed the first round. Recently, foreign media also selected the greatest showdown in the history of Snooker, O'Sullivan vs Selby was successfully elected, commenting that "the most evenly matched competition, different styles of top duels".
There are many wonderful duels in the history of snooker, but as a gentleman's movement, there are not many old enemies who can make every duel have a topic and burst into a fierce spark, and more often they are sympathetic to each other. The showdown between legendary Davis and Alex Higgins in the 1980s was once considered the greatest confrontation in snooker history, with Davis being a representative of gentlemen loved by the middle class, and Alex Higgins was a rebel, widely supported by the enthusiastic working class, and the match between the two became the hottest topic of the era. But the honor gap between the two is large, and Davis also has an overwhelming advantage of 25 wins and 5 losses in the hand-to-hand record.
Nowadays, more and more professionals have voted the match between O'Sullivan and Selby as the "greatest showdown in snooker history", both players have brilliant professional resumes, of which O'Sullivan is even widely regarded as the first person in snooker history, 38 ranking champions, 1157 strokes, 15 times 147 full scores are ranked first in history, and the World Championships have also won 6 cups second only to Hendry. The younger Selby also has a remarkable record, winning 20 ranking titles in his career, four titles in the past 8 World Championships, and occupying the world number one for seven consecutive seasons, and is known as the hardest player to beat in snooker today.
In addition to their outstanding historical record, the two are also representatives of snooker's different styles, O'Sullivan's offensive style of play, and their imagination and flowing water are all praise for O'Sullivan's skills, which have turned snooker into a work of art, in addition, the personality is also wanton and unobstructed, just like his ball skills are as elusive. Selby is just the opposite of O'Sullivan, with super defensive skills to establish the football world, the style of play is rigorous and slow, too much emphasis on the results of the game and many fans spit on,
Due to the huge difference in personality, coupled with the repeated duels staged at the key stages of the ranking match, the two did not look at each other, Selby accused O'Sullivan of not respecting himself enough, O'Sullivan was in response to his opponent for hurting snooker, and gave Selby a nickname of "torturer", the game between the two was full of war of words, and even the pre-match handshake link Neither of them wanted to hide.
The showdown between O'Sullivan and Selby was not only topical, but also exciting on the field, with the two working together to present many wonderful duels. In the final four of the 2007 British Championship, O'Sullivan broke 147 out of 9-8 in the decider; in the 2008 Welsh final, Selby fell behind 5-8, and staged a super reversal to defeat O'Sullivan in the 2010 Masters final; in the 2010 Masters final, Selby staged a reversal miracle again after falling behind 6-9, 10-9 to win the cup; O'Sullivan led all the way in the first two quarters of the 2014 World Championship final, once the score came to 10-5 with a five-set advantage, but finally the last two quarters collapsed 14-18 In the final four of the 2020 World Championships, O'Sullivan responded to his opponent for a good reversal, 14-16 behind and finally 17-16 reverse kill.
2022 World Championship Selby as the defending champion occupies the first place in the first half of the first half, O'Sullivan is the world's first place in the lower half, want to enjoy the greatest showdown again at this World Championship, will only appear in the final on May 2, if the two players can meet the final, it will bring another feast for fans around the world, whether it is O'Sullivan Crucible's seventh crown to tie Hendry, or Selby won the fifth crown to return to the world first, The answer will only be revealed at the end of the World Championships.