Backstage at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, home of the world snooker championship for almost four decades, is a board listing all the champions since the tournament’s inception in 1927.
It reads like a street directory of any British town from a few generations ago. The names are entirely Anglo-Saxon, alleviated by a smattering of Celt. The only non-British winners have been an Irishman, a Canadian and two Australians. Small world.
This year it might have been different. The biggest threat to Ronnie O’Sullivan completing a hat-trick of victories was thought to be Ding Junhui, from Shanghai, winner of five major titles this season and, according to the official programme, “a role model for tens of millions of fans in his homeland”.
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