YOU WON’T TRUMP ME YET
Ronnie: You can’t compare Judd to me, he may never win a world title
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has used his stunning Tour Championship win over Judd Trump to load the Crucible pressure on to his rival.
The Rocket reached today’s final of the inaugural eight-player event in Llandudno with a thrilling final-black 10-9 victory.
O’sullivan is close to making yet more history. If he lifts the trophy tomorrow night it will equal Stephen Hendry’s record of 36 ranking titles.
And the 43-year-old will also end Mark Selby’s four-year reign as world No.1 and get back to the summit for the first time in nine years.
But after losing two huge finals to Trump this season, O’sullivan used the revenge win to issue a defiant message – that he is still the main man ahead of next month’s World Championship.
O’sullivan and Trump (right) are the favourites to triumph in Sheffield this O’sullivan 30 wins, Hendry 21 wins, 5 draws O’sullivan 36 wins, Higgins 29 wins, 3 draws O’sullivan 31 wins, Williams 11 wins, 3 draws year, with the 29-year-old desperately seeking a first crown.
And O’sullivan said: “I have had these rivalries. It was Stephen Hendry for a long time. Then it was John Higgins and Mark Williams.
“Then it was Mark Selby for a few years I was having battles with and now it is Judd, Neil Robertson and Mark Allen.
“But the one constant is I am still here. The others come and go but I have stayed in that mix. It was me and someone else, then me and someone else, then me and someone else.
“So I am having to fight off people all the time, but I am used to that challenge. When you are used to being in the heat of the kitchen, you know how to come through it.
“It is hard to compare Judd with me. I have won 19 majors, five world titles, everything there is to win. Maybe the comparisons are better with Hendry, possibly John Higgins. “These younger guys have it all to prove. Judd hasn’t won a world title, he is a great player and a great talent and I would be surprised if he doesn’t win one. “But they said that about Jimmy White and it is never won until it is won. Even in my career there was a stage at 24 or 25 when I was beginning to get worried I might not win one.
“It is a huge relief when you do and they never get easier. Judd probably has 10 years to make it happen – maybe he’ll be hoping I go away a bit sooner!”
There was a huge outpouring of emotion at the end from O’sullivan, who trailed 6-2 and 8-5 – and had been hurt by the two Trump defeats this season.
Not usually one to hail his own feats, O’sullivan added: “You get one life and if you enjoy what you do, then happy days.
“I’d trade all the titles and the money for the highs, the love and the experience of playing and it’s been like that since I was a kid.
“There are very few people in the world that have been the greatest and the best in what they have done – very few. I feel like I am in that bracket.
“There are eight billion people on the planet and how many can say that? I have had that ultimate experience of being king of my sport.”