Ronnie O’Sullivan: I don’t play snooker like I used to. Even as he competes for a record-breaking eighth Crucible title, seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan does not consider himself the greatest snooker player of all time. O’Sullivan, 48, will face Welsh qualifier Jackson Page, 22, in the first round on Wednesday (14:30 BST). The second session will take place on Thursday afternoon.
A different universe title would move O’Sullivan one clear of Stephen Hendry’s seven Cauldron triumphs during the 1990s. This season, O’Sullivan has already won the UK Championship and the Masters, the other two events in snooker’s Triple Crown.
This is the eighth time he has won each trophy, more than any other player. O’Sullivan responded, “I don’t regard myself as the greatest,” when asked if he thought he was the greatest person ever. I might be one of them. You have Hendry, [six-time best on the planet Steve] Davis, and my cap’s in the ring with them. Their careers have been different from mine. They did it over a ten-year period, whereas I kind of fell off the wagon, got back on track, and then got back on track. I had to go on for longer in order to get what I have. I was a little scattered throughout the show at times because of things happening off the table, which can affect how you perform on it. Hendry and Davis essentially had everything fitted around them to be centered around snooker and I didn’t have that.
” With the trophy from the Masters, Ronnie O’Sullivan Picture subtitle, Ronnie O’Sullivan with the Bosses prize in January. He is expecting to win snooker’s triple crown of UK Title, Bosses and Big showdown in a similar season interestingly.
“You see it as an anti-climax when you get there” O’Sullivan came out on top for his most memorable big showdown at 25 years old in 2001, preceding further achievements in 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020 and 2022, when he turned into the most established title holder at 46 years old. However, he enters the event as the world’s number one because of his excellent form in 2023 and 2024.
He said when he was more youthful he needed to be viewed as the best and added: “As a youngster I would have been frantic to be up there with those folks. But once you get there, you realize that it isn’t quite what you expected, and it feels like a bit of a letdown. By that time, you’ve already gotten so far in that it’s too late to get out and start over. You declare, “I have what I have,” and you reap the additional rewards. O’Sullivan has won 41 ranking titles in his 32 years as a professional, in addition to his record eight wins in the non-ranking Masters.
That driving complete is five clear of Hendry’s 36, with four-time title holder John Higgins on 31, Davis and Judd Trump on 28 and Imprint Williams on 26. The Big showdown top 16 seeds captured together Image caption: Within the first four days of the tournament, six of the 16 seeds have been eliminated.
O’Sullivan, who previously stated that he would quit the sport only to change his mind and is now selective about the events he participates in, stated that he might continue playing for another five to ten years. “I love playing. I get to travel basically any place I need to go to play snooker and get some much needed rest when I need to,” added O’Sullivan.
“I’m my own chief, and they’re the main things. You want to win because I’ve always been competitive. I must have that approach regardless of anything else. I don’t know if that makes me the greatest or not. It really doesn’t matter.” O’Sullivan signed a three-year ambassadorial contract with Riyadh Season and the World Snooker Tour (WST) this month.
He will pledge to participate in every WST event held in Saudi Arabia as part of that contract, as well as mentor aspiring Middle Eastern players. O’Sullivan stated, “Someone’s going to have to do phenomenally well to get my records.” Catching those records will be difficult now. My total ranking events can be beaten. Yet, the significant titles – UKs, Experts and Universes – that will be difficult to get to. “However, i’m cool with what I’ve done, however I might want to win all the more.”
