Ronnie O'Sullivan won his first World Championship title in 2001, after finding the Crucible a tough nut to crack in the early years of his career
Down go the lights inside Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, an overhead galaxy replaced by darkness.
Heavyweight auditorium doors thud closed. A handshake between the protagonists disguises hell-bent hunger to degrade each other as far as non-contact sport allows.
The world beyond this claustrophobic den of tension and turmoil becomes irrelevant. Phones are switched off, senses flick to high alert.
New energy fills the air: anxious, anticipative. Crowd commotion hits a heavy metal high and drops steeply to silence.
