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Think of Ronnie's form against Xiao Guodong like a golfer shooting 59. Sure when you shoot 59 no one can beat you, as simple as it is obvious. However no golfer in history has ever shot back to back sub-60 rounds. Never has happened and maybe never will. As any player or commentator will tell you the hardest thing in golf is to follow up a career best round with a decent round much less one that is equal to it. They call it career best for a reason. This of course wasn't quite Ronnie's career best. That happened way back in 2007 against Ali Carter when he scored 5 centuries in a best of nine, including a 147!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq3rBrHtg3Y
Unlike golf in snooker the result isn't cumulative either. It's like a match play tournament where you are only as good as your next round. That's what makes snooker so hard to dominate. Like golf the difference between a good shot and a bad shot is exceedingly small. As a result a player's form varies much more day to day than in most other sports. Federer is recognizably Federer every time he steps on the court. Ditto Steven Curry or Wayne Gretzky. In golf and in snooker by contrast you see Mark Allen winning the Masters one week and blowing a 3-0 lead in a best of seven in the first round the next. In golf 95% of the touring pros will miss the cut more often than they will win tournaments. And many a time have gone from winning a tournament one week to missing the cut the next.
In golf if you win one out of every seven tournaments you are a world beater. If you win one tournament a year, year in year out, you are one of the best players in the game. Snooker is pretty much the same. It's what makes this year by Ronnie so special. There is no guarantee of any kind that it will continue. In fact the statistics and so the odds are very much against it continuing. But, hell, let's enjoy it while it does and understand that the only thing that is certain is that it will come to an end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq3rBrHtg3Y
Unlike golf in snooker the result isn't cumulative either. It's like a match play tournament where you are only as good as your next round. That's what makes snooker so hard to dominate. Like golf the difference between a good shot and a bad shot is exceedingly small. As a result a player's form varies much more day to day than in most other sports. Federer is recognizably Federer every time he steps on the court. Ditto Steven Curry or Wayne Gretzky. In golf and in snooker by contrast you see Mark Allen winning the Masters one week and blowing a 3-0 lead in a best of seven in the first round the next. In golf 95% of the touring pros will miss the cut more often than they will win tournaments. And many a time have gone from winning a tournament one week to missing the cut the next.
In golf if you win one out of every seven tournaments you are a world beater. If you win one tournament a year, year in year out, you are one of the best players in the game. Snooker is pretty much the same. It's what makes this year by Ronnie so special. There is no guarantee of any kind that it will continue. In fact the statistics and so the odds are very much against it continuing. But, hell, let's enjoy it while it does and understand that the only thing that is certain is that it will come to an end.
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