Ronnie O’Sullivan has drawn level with Stephen Hendry on seven World Snooker Championship titles after beating Judd Trump 18-13 in the 2022 final. The world No 1 was in supreme form all tournament long ties level with Hendry for the most victories in Crucible history after winning four of six frames in the final session.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has drawn level with Stephen Hendry on seven World Snooker Championship titles after beating Judd Trump 18-13 in the 2022 final. The world No 1 was in supreme form all tournament long ties level with Hendry for the most victories in Crucible history after winning four of six frames in the final session.
Hendry’s solo record of seven titles had stood since 1999 but O’Sullivan’s latest triumph will see him widely regarded as the greatest ever snooker player. It is the crowning achievement, so far, of a glittering career.
He also holds the record for most ranking titles (39), most Triple Crown titles (21) and the most century breaks ever (over 1,169). The Rocket also takes home a £500,000 cash prize as a result of his triumph, taking his career prize money to over £12m.
O’Sullivan saw off David Gilbert, Mark Allen, Stephen Maguire and John Higgins before defeating 2019 champion Trump. This was only his eighth Crucible final, having only ever lost once in the final, to four-time winner Mark Selby in 2014.
John Parrott, the 1991 world champion, told BBC Sport: “We won’t see the likes of it again. You simply won’t. You won’t see anybody like him ever again. He’s the best player I’ve ever seen in my life.
“When he plays his cue ball control is on another level. When he’s at his best, he’s on another level to everyone who has played this game. He’s got the application and the appetite. Don’t listen to him saying he doesn’t practice.
“He works like a trojan in that club where he goes, he’s putting the hours in. He might come out and say, ‘Oh no I don’t care’ and all that, he’s in there grafting. He puts the hours in and he wants to win.”
Six-time world champion Steve Davis added: “He’s playing in a field of players that is far stronger than the field of previous generations. For him to win seven World Championships with so many great players, he may have needed longer for that to happen but the longevity he’s shown has been incredible.
“It didn’t happen for me or for Stephen Hendry. I think it’s remarkable what he’s achieved. There’s been peaks and troughs along the way. It’s tough in professional sport having to deal with life as well but when you look at it, he’s done brilliantly well to cope with everything. He’s the person everyone want to ask questions of. He’s had to deal with that along the way. But he’s got the talent and the pressure he withstands is astonishing.”
