The legendary snooker player Stephen Hendry has acknowledged that he would want Ronnie O’Sullivan to lose this year’s World Championship.
Hendry and the Rocket are currently tied for the most world titles, and Hendry has hinted in jest that he doesn’t want to lose their combined record.
In the last ten years of the 20th century, Hendry won seven World Championships, and he dominated snooker in the 1990s.
O’Sullivan didn’t win one until 2001, but since then, he has six more victories, the most recent coming in 2022.
Having won the first two Triple Crown events of the season, the 48-year-old shows no signs of slowing down.
He supported the UK Championship in December with an eighth Masters victory earlier this month, setting a new record.
In a stunning comeback in Leicester, O’Sullivan defeated world No. 2 Judd Trump to win the World Grand Prix on Sunday as well.
In April, he will travel to Sheffield in the hopes of winning his eighth World Championship.
However, Hendry has urged other professional pool players to step forward and support him in maintaining the record he shares with O’Sullivan.
“Where are all the other top players? Ronnie is basically dominating snooker now, running all over it,” the Scot said to talkSPORT after the World Grand Prix. “Even Trump couldn’t beat him. My question is, who is going to stop him from winning that eighth world title? To beat our record, I don’t want him [to beat it].”
O’Sullivan’s winning streak now stands at 14 matches, dating back to last November.
Though Hendry acknowledges that no one now appears likely to unseat O’Sullivan as the sport’s greatest player, he is nevertheless amazed by what he is accomplishing and is concerned about the sport’s future.
“Of course [he’s a genius],” he continued. We kind of have to commend the lifespan of it since it is so amazing.
“Some of the finest snooker I’ve ever seen was what he played on the night of the semi-final. What he’s doing in the game is amazing; he’s taking it to a whole new level.
Leave a Reply