3 weeks ago
Seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan does not deliberation he is nan top snooker subordinate of each time, moreover arsenic he bids for a record-breaking eighth Crucible title.
O’Sullivan, 48, originates his first-round lucifer against 22-year-old Welsh qualifier Jackson Page connected Wednesday (14:30 BST), pinch nan 2nd convention connected Thursday afternoon.
Another world title would move O’Sullivan 1 clear of Stephen Hendry’s 7 Crucible successes successful nan 1990s.
O’Sullivan has already won nan different 2 events successful snooker’s Triple Crown – nan UK Championship and nan Masters – this season, nan eighth clip he has lifted each trophy, much than immoderate different player.
Asked if he considered himself arsenic nan champion ever, O’Sullivan said: “I don’t respect myself arsenic nan greatest. I’m 1 of them, maybe. You’ve sewage Hendry, [six-time world champion Steve] Davis, and my hat’s successful nan ringing pinch them. I’ve had a different profession to them. They did it complete a ten-year period, whereas I’ve benignant of gone disconnected track, sewage myself together, backmost disconnected track, past sewage myself backmost together.
“I’ve had to spell connected longer to get what I’ve got. I was a spot each complete nan show astatine times pinch worldly going connected disconnected nan array and that tin impact really you execute connected it. Hendry and Davis beautiful overmuch had everything fitted astir them to beryllium focused connected snooker and I didn’t person that.”
O’Sullivan won his first world title astatine nan property of 25 successful 2001, earlier further successes successful 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020 and 2022, erstwhile he became nan oldest world champion astatine nan property of 46.
But he has been successful awesome shape successful 2023-24 and comes into nan arena arsenic world number one.
He said erstwhile he was younger he wanted to beryllium seen arsenic nan champion and added: “As a kid I would person been hopeless to beryllium up location pinch those guys. But erstwhile you get location you spot it arsenic a spot of an anti-climax and it’s not arsenic awesome arsenic you thought it would be.
“By past you’re truthful acold in, it’s excessively precocious to backmost retired and unrecorded it each again. You spell ‘I’ve sewage what I’ve got’ and you return nan different benefits of it.”
As good arsenic his grounds 8 wins successful nan non-ranking Masters, O’Sullivan has besides won 41 ranking titles successful his 32-year master career.
That starring full is 5 clear of Hendry’s 36, pinch four-time world champion John Higgins connected 31, Davis and Judd Trump connected 28 and Mark Williams connected 26.
O’Sullivan, who has antecedently stated he would discontinue nan athletics only to alteration his mind and is now selective astir which events he plays, said he could beryllium playing for different 5 to 10 years.
“I emotion playing. I get to recreation beautiful overmuch wherever I want to spell to play snooker and return clip disconnected erstwhile I want to,” added O’Sullivan. “I’m my ain boss, and they’re nan astir important things.
“You want to triumph because competitiveness has been successful me. I person to person that attack nary matter what. Whether that makes maine nan top aliases not, I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter.”
This period O’Sullivan agreed a three-year ambassadorial woody pinch nan World Snooker Tour (WST) and Riyadh Season. Part of that statement will impact him mentoring aspiring players successful nan Middle East arsenic good arsenic a committedness to play successful each WST arena successful Saudi Arabia.
“Someone’s going to person to do phenomenally good to get my records,” said O’Sullivan. “It’s going to beryllium difficult to drawback those records now. My ranking events [total] is beatable. But nan awesome titles - UKs, Masters and Worlds - that will beryllium difficult to get to.
“I’m beautiful cool pinch what I’ve done, but I’d for illustration to triumph much though.”
