Rob Walker has worked at the Crucible for the best part of two decades (Image: Getty)
World Snooker Championship compere Rob Walker says the atmosphere at the Crucible on the ‘Class of 92’ night at this tournament was “amazing” – but it still doesn’t beat the best atmosphere he’s known in Sheffield.
Walker has now been doing his job on the arena floor for two decades, and has been witness to many special moments in the sport. And the night last weekend when Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams all played in the arena at the same time was clearly up there.
“That Saturday night, which was the last session of Mark Williams against Barry Hawkins and the opening session of what turned out to be ‘El Clasico’ between Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins, it was amazing,” Walker told Express Sport.
“I asked the crowd if they were willing and able to stand. Obviously Barry was the first of the four players to come out and he got a brilliant reception, which was richly deserved. He is such an underrated player.
“But the noise emanating for Mark Williams, then O’Sullivan and then Higgins, it was absolutely amazing.
“Because that was the Crucible’s opportunity to say thank you to three men who have served snooker brilliantly for more than three decades.
“That would have been the equivalent of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all playing on adjacent courts at the same time.
“They are three once in a generation players, they all happened to come along at the same time, and what makes them all the more intriguing is how different their personalities are.
“Higgins is as different to O’Sullivan as O’Sullivan is to Willo. One’s English, one’s Scottish and one’s Welsh, they’ve done everything for snooker for more than three decades.
“That was the crowd’s opportunity to say thank you and they did it in style.”
However, despite that being such a memorable night, Walker says it still didn’t quite compare to the most raucous atmosphere he can remember.
Back in 2011, Higgins was going for his fourth world title. Standing in his way in the final was a precocious 21-year-old Judd Trump, who was wowing the public with his dashing skills and flair.
When the players emerged for the final session at the Crucible, the atmosphere was genuinely remarkable.
Walker’s most memorable match took place all the way back in 2011 (Image: Getty)
“I can’t recall anything being quite as loud and quite as surprising as that,” Walker said.
“The final night of John Higgins and Judd Trump was absolutely incredible. Jan Verhaas was refereeing and I remember, after the ovation would normally have stopped it carried on, and he was doing the shush motion to the crowd.
“John Higgins was kind of pulling out his collar nervously and shaking his head and smiling, because he’d never heard anything like it. It was just absolutely unbelievable.
“I think it was a combination of the fact it was John, and he was going for world title No.4. But it was also the fact that for people outside the close snooker fraternity, it appeared to them that Trump had come out of nowhere. And he was potting balls off the lampshades.
“He was using this thing called Twitter that we were all unfamiliar with. He was posting messages on Twitter in the mid-session intervals and he captured the public’s imagination.
“When you talk to them, they both remember it. Anyone who was in the audience will remember it.
“It was a very very special night at the Crucible.”