Ronnie O'Sullivan's bid for a fourth world title came to an end on Wednesday night at the hands of John Higgins, but 'The Rocket' once again lit up The Crucible with glimpses of his sparkling best.
O'Sullivan had admitted this year's World Championship could be his last throw of the dice, and as he prepares to do some serious soul searching, we roll back the years to 2001, when he finally claimed his first world title.
"There's Tiger Woods and Roger Federer but Ronnie is the biggest genius I've ever witnessed," Steve Davis once said of Ronnie O'Sullivan.
And as Woods strives to end an 18-month title drought and Federer struggles to defy his critics who claim it is the beginning of the end of a glittering career, so too O'Sullivan's career stands on the brink.
The three-time world champion has come under fire in recent months - but has consulted an Olympic psychologist in his bid to rediscover his love for the game.
The Rocket's ability has never come into question - having achieved his first century break when he was barely tall enough to reach the table, he is blessed with the rare gift of being able to play both right and left-handed. Precociously talented, O'Sullivan's outspoken manner and aggressive approach to the game has seen him almost single-handedly boost the popularity of the sport across the globe.
Having become the youngest winner of a ranking tournament when he won the 1993 UK Championship at the age of 17, O'Sullivan won the Masters title less than two years later. But forced to battle with depression O'Sullivan was considered to be a flawed genius, and many doubted he had the mental strength to win a world title. The Crucible crowd was no stranger to the Essex star and throughout his career O'Sullivan had mixed the sublime with the ridiculous.
In 1996, he was handed a two-year suspended sentence after being found guilty of assaulting a media official, but the following year he made the fastest 147 on record, clearing the table in an astonishing five minutes and 20 seconds.
A popular figure in Sheffield, O'Sullivan came into the 2001 championships as the favourite, despite crashing out of the Scottish Open in Aberdeen, where he was defending champion.
Few people expected Andy Hicks to present any real challenge to O'Sullivan, and the Rocket needed less than 35 minutes of the second session to wrap up a 10-2 victory. The No. 4 seed led 7-2 after the first session, and looked calm and relaxed as he raced through four frames to seal his place in the second round.
O'Sullivan was on a roll, and Dave Harold provided little resistance as the Rocket bulldozed his way into the last eight, with three century breaks on his way to a 13-6 victory.
His quarter-final opponent, Peter Ebdon, came into the tournament on a high having won the Scottish Open, but had endured a 10 hour 43-minute marathon victory over Stephen Lee in the previous round.
After fighting back from 7-9 down, Ebdon broke down in tears when he clinched his place in the last eight, but there was no repeat on the cards as O'Sullivan sailed into the semi-finals with a 13-6 win, and Ebdon admitted he had no answer to his opponent's "sensational snooker".
"He's a genius, he's so inspirational to watch," Ebdon said. "I have got the utmost respect for Ronnie. The snooker he produced on Tuesday was nothing but sensational. I think he's snooker's equivalent of Mozart. I really believed this was my year to win but Ronnie was awesome."
However, O'Sullivan was critical of his opponent, claiming he expected more of a challenge.
"You shouldn't win by that margin in the quarter-finals of a tournament like this but I did," he said. "Peter perhaps should have played better, he had some chances but didn't take them."
If O'Sullivan expected a greater challenge in the semi-finals, he would be disappointed as he never looked in danger of defeat against 16th seed Joe Swail and he claimed a routine 17-11 victory.
With just one match standing between O'Sullivan and his first world crown, the Essex Exocet admitted he was surprised it had taken him nine years to reach the final for the first time.
"I thought that I would have won it once or twice by now," O'Sullivan said after sealing his place in the final. "I know how good I was and if I had kept my form up of 15-16 I believe I could have won it.
"Second place is no consolation. It has got to be the worst thing in the world, whatever the sport, watching someone else picking up a trophy."
Standing between O'Sullivan and that trophy was second seed John Higgins, who had denied O'Sullivan a place in the final at the 1998 tournament, before going on to claim the first of three world titles.
But there was no stopping the Rocket, who stormed to an early lead in the 35-frame final, combining his signature attacking play with safety play to devastating effect.
Higgins battled valiantly and kept up the pressure, but he was unable to find a way to overcome the early deficit and a crucial missed red in the 30th frame all but handed O'Sullivan the title, who held his nerve to claim an 18-14 victory.
A jubilant O'Sullivan dedicated the victory to his father, Ronnie Snr, who was serving a life sentence for murder.
"I can't describe just how good the feeling is but it makes all the tough days seem a million miles away," O'Sullivan said. "It is a special moment for me and the whole family. They know how much it means to me because snooker is in my blood."
What happened next?
O'Sullivan went on to claim two further world titles in 2004 and 2008, and pocket over £6 million in prize money. The troubled star continued to court controversy and has frequently threatened to quit the sport after claiming he has "fallen out of love with snooker".
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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