O’Sullivan plays down matching Davis and Hendry records
Ronnie O’Sullivan says he could never call himself “the greatest”, despite matching two snooker records by winning the UK Championship on Sunday.
O’Sullivan, 42, equalled Steve Davis’ tally of six UK titles and Stephen Hendry’s record of 18 victories in ‘Triple Crown’ events - the UK and World Championships, and Masters. Davis said he was one of Britain’s “greatest sporting personalities”. But O’Sullivan said “it is for other people to make statements like that”.
‘The Rocket’ beat Shaun Murphy 10-5 in York to claim his third ranking title of the season, hitting three centuries to take his career total to 916. Davis, now a BBC Sport pundit, said: “I am delighted to be in the company of Ronnie O’Sullivan.
“On his day, he is not just the most mercurial and most amazing talent we have ever seen, he is also one of the greatest winning machines we have had.”
O’Sullivan - a five-time world champion - is now just five adrift of Hendry’s 36 ranking titles and heads to the Masters in January as the defending champion.
“The milestones I have reached are all good, and six UKs and 18 majors is testament to how long I have been in the sport and persevered at it. They are great records to have,” he told BBC Sport.
“I could never say: ‘I am the greatest.’ That is not in my personality. I am just pleased I put in some great performances over the years.-BBC-SPORT