Hendry: O’sullivan will Rocket to an eighth title
Snooker great Stephen Hendry has no doubts new world champion, Ronnie O’sullivan, will chase down a record- breaking eighth world title.
The Rocket blew away this year’s field at the Betfred World Championship in Sheffield to go level with Scotland’s Hendry on seven Crucible crowns.
And at 46, Hendry knows snooker’s crowd favourite has time to become the most- successful snooker player of all time.
O’sullivan has slowly beaten all of Hendry’s records from a glorious decade of domination in the 1990s.
And the Scot ( inset below) warned: “I am sure Ronnie won’t be happy until he’s got eight.
“You can’t give him enough compliments. He’s an artist.
“He’s a winning machine, it’s as simple as that.
“Ronnie says he’s not bothered about eight, but he will want eight.
“The way he dominated this y e a r ’s Wo r l d Championshipp was outstanding.
H e ’s been wonderful.
“Ronnie has taken snooker to new heights,, and I’m actuallyy surprised it’s takeen him so long to win seven world titless.”
That’s a view sharedhd byb fellow snooker legend Steve Davis, the six-time world champion, and Hendry’s fellow BBC pundit.
“There just aren’t enough superlatives for Ronnie O’sullivan anymore,” saluted Davis. “I think he’s got an eighth world title in him, I really do.
O’sullivan won his first world title in 2001 and his longevity in the sport has been sublime, having won a staggering 39 ranking titles – more than any other player – during his illlustrious career. And with many of snoooker’s rising stars havinng struggled to take over at the top, O’sullivan joked that someone needed to “pull their finger out” to become the flag-bearer of the future. Mental demons and off- table problems have plagued the Rocket throughout his career, but with the renowned sports psychiatrist, Steve Peters, in his corner, snooker’s most-enigmatic star has never been more focused on success.
“I could probably play to my mid-50s if I wanted to,” admitted O’sullivan.
“The tournaments like the World Championship will be a bit of a strain. There might not be much chance of winning them. But everything else, why not?
“I still enjoy being on the circuit, and I’m having fun with it.”
“I thought I was done at 35, but I went to see Steve in 2011, and he’s developed a skill in me.
“I wouldn’t have carried on otherwise.
“I just kind of doubted myself a bit this year,” reflected O’sullivan. “I didn’t think I was the favourite.
“The record’s never been something on my mind. I didn’t want here to come and equal Stephen Hendry’s record.
“No players like Hendry or
Davis had won big titles at my age, so I thought that was the trend.
“I didn’t expect to get to another final like this again, so I wanted my family to come down. It’s been very special.
“There is a lot less margin for error now. I now need to be at 90% to win tournaments, whereas I used to be able to win them at 70%.
“I need to put my foot to the metal, because I can’t let up, otherwise I’ll lose.
“That puts more pressure on you.
“I’m still there fighting and I like to compete with the younger guys, so we’ll see what happens in the future.”