On May 1, the final of the 2022 Snooker World Championships will officially kick off the first day of the 17-inning competition at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, UK. The No. 2 seed and six-time champion "Rocket" O'Sullivan and the No. 4 seed and 2019 tournament champion Trump began a strong dialogue. There is no doubt that this will be another classic duel, with O'Sullivan hitting the seven-time title with the aim of equaling Hendry's record number of titles, while Trump is fighting for his second world title.
At 8:00 p.m. Beijing time on May 1:
Trump vs O'Sullivan (Phase 1 8)
If O'Sullivan's biggest rival in the first half of his career was Higgins, then the number one opponent in the last decade or so is probably Trump. From the time Trump began to emerge in the professional arena, for a long time the two trained together, O'Sullivan treated Trump like a big brother to a little brother, so in terms of playing style, Trump was once known as a replica of O'Sullivan.
In the past 29 meetings, Trump has a slight advantage of 15 wins and 14 losses, and the two's most recent meeting was at this season's Players Championship, where O'Sullivan won 6-3 in the first round. But two years ago, Trump had won three consecutive games against O'Sullivan in three consecutive games. Interestingly, Trump won three consecutive Northern Ireland Open titles from 2018 to 2020, winning against O'Sullivan in the final, and the score was 9-7.
This time again, the two people, whether it is the state, or the technical and tactical aspects, there is almost no big gap, which may test the energy of the two people even more. After all, it has been more than ten days of duels, and it is quite difficult and exhausting to win all the way. The first stage of 8 innings, more like a test for two people, who can get into the state as soon as possible, may be able to take the lead.
At 2:00 a.m. Beijing time on May 2:
Trump vs O'Sullivan (Stage 2 9)
For O'Sullivan, reaching the final of the World Championships, he will attack these goals. The first is the seven-time world championship, if he can do so, he will chase hendry and tie for the first person in history; the second is that if he can win the championship, then he will receive a huge prize of 500,000 pounds; the third is his world ranking, which will once again surpass Selby and become the first person in the year-end world, continuing the status of the first person; the fourth is O'Sullivan's victory, which will become the second oldest world champion in crucible history, second only to his mentor Ray Lilton The fifth is that O'Sullivan will continue to set a new record as he will attack the 39th ranking title of his career; the sixth is a seventh-time victory, which will achieve his seventh lap of the three major slams, the 21st three-time championship, and continue to expand the advantage to lead.
For Trump, whether he can win the World Championship for the second time in three years will be a perfect opportunity to prove that he is the king of the Open. In addition, if he can win the championship, he will be the 24th ranking champion of his career, surpassing Robertson, equaling Williams and tied for fifth place in history. Similarly, if Trump can win the championship, then he will also receive a championship prize of 500,000 pounds, and the year-end world ranking will also reach the top of the world's first place, if it is the runner-up, only 200,000 pounds will be recorded, ranking second in the world.