Ronnie O’Sullivan is the consensus greatest snooker player of all time, but what is it that has taken him to those great heights?
The Rocket has won more ranking titles than any other player (41), sharing the modern record of seven World Championships with Stephen Hendry.
Having turned professional in 1992, his longevity also gives him an edge over Hendry in the GOAT debate as the Scotsman had previously been considered the greatest before the Englishman caught up with him.
The 49-year-old’s trophy collection is enough to prove he is the best ever, but what is it that has taken the lad from Essex to be number one of all time?
Fellow professional Michael Holt, who once beat the Rocket three times on the spin in the same year, has been considering that question.
‘I had conversation with another professional the other day and we were saying, right, what makes Ronnie the best ever?’ Holt told Metro.
‘Is it work ethic? There’s loads of people that work hard. Is it ability? Obviously super talented. He’s got these things you need to be a snooker player. But what he’s been able to do more than anyone ever is go out there and play like he’s in practice.
‘Other players can do that at times, but he’s done it the most. That’s why he is the best ever. I think that’s the difference, you know, even when he’s really nervous because he’s human, he can still go out there and just basically take the shackles off.
‘It doesn’t always work, sometimes it fails because he’s a human being, but I think as players, when we watch him, we’re in awe of a lot of what he does because he’s so amazing. But the thing that I’m more and more in awe of is the fact that he’s just doing it out there.
‘That’s incredible. Like what an ability to have, what an ability!
‘What people don’t realise is people go through their whole career and never ever feel like that. Even players that do alright, they never play like they can.’
The secret of how to take your practice game out into the arena remains a secret, or there would be far more players competing for titles.
However, Holt dismisses the idea that it is just down to the natural gifts O’Sullivan possesses, believing the Rocket has put as much mental and physical energy as anyone into the game over a long, long period of time.
‘He’s quite obsessive, isn’t he?’ Holt said. ‘Although everyone is in the game to an extent. We’re all snooker geeks as far as we’re spending a lot of time in a room with no windows hitting balls around a green thing.
‘I think Ronnie’s a massive student of the game. People don’t know that really. They think he’s just rocking up with his cue at every event and he may not have picked it up since the last one.
‘But you know he’s obsessed with it. He plays a lot, you can just tell. If he doesn’t practice he’s the luckiest player I’ve ever seen, because every change he makes seems to work out for him.
‘He’s either unbelievably lucky or a geek. So, I think it’s the latter.’
