>>22290One of the best matches between O'Sullivan and Selby I've ever seen was the final of The Masters 2010. At some point Selby trails O'Sulivan with 6-9 with only one more frame needed for the latter to win, and modifies his game to basically grind him down with a non-stop defense/destruction strategy until there is an opening.
I enjoy those games a lot, I don't understand why people always prefer when two players are just break-building turn by turn, when the reds and the high colors are still where they are supposed to be. A messy table just requires far more improvisation, cue control and nerves. People always forget how diversified players at that level have to be to stand a chance in modern snooker. Davis' domination was over once the long pot was part of the standard skillset. Hendry was done for once everyone else adopted the long pot into a broader range of tactical skillsets. For all his mannerism, O'Sullivan has actually kept out quite well with developments, he is just as good for safety play as he is with fluid break-building, and Selby can easily also go full steam ahead and go for a rapid century.
I hope Ding Junhui finally wins his first world championship eventually. I like watching him a lot and he had to endure a lot of sinophobic attacks by the British audience ("lol Asian bugman", "robot", etc.).