Seven-time world snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan said today that this will be the best season of his career if he wins a record eighth title in Sheffield.
O'Sullivan will play Jackson Page in the first round of the World Championship in Sheffield. The most important snooker competition starts on April 20 in Sheffield and will last until May 6.
O'Sullivan will attempt to win his sixth title of the season and become only the fourth player to win all three Triple Crown events in one season.
"I pulled myself together and played the right way. I didn't have a master plan and thought everything out. If I win the title this year, it will be my best season, considering I've only played in 11 tournaments. Those are titles in key tournaments," he said. is O'Sullivan for the BBC.
He won the UK Open, the Masters, the Shanghai Masters, the World Grand Prix and the Riyadh World Masters this season.
O'Sullivan, considered the greatest snooker player of all time, will be looking to win a 42nd ranking title and extend the record.
However, while the media and fans say that with an eighth world championship title he would overtake Stephen Hendry, whose record he equaled in 2022, O'Sullivan said that he does not pay much attention to how many titles he can finish his career with.
He has 745 consecutive days at the top of the world rankings, which is a feat because in previous seasons he only played in certain tournaments.
Three-time world champion Mark Williams said O'Sullivan was the favorite in Sheffield, despite Judd Trump winning more titles this season.
"He is without a doubt the best player by far. If he played in every tournament and if he played properly he would easily be number one in the world. Of course he wants eighth, there is no question about that. He is the favorite. He doesn't have to play the best . And his B game is good enough ... if he stays composed, he's the player everyone has to beat," Williams said.
O'Sullivan recently signed a three-year contract and became the ambassador of snooker in Saudi Arabia, so he will play in all tournaments in that Gulf country.
In addition, he intends to open an academy in the Middle East.
"If you look at what China has done with young players, you can transfer that and Saudi Arabia can develop academies where young players can play, set up competitions and events. I want to be part of that to make sure they have the right type coach. I spent some time with a few young players, to give them a good foundation and share knowledge. I like to see how people develop," said the 48-year-old O'Sullivan.
"I was fascinated by Nico Bollettieri's tennis academy and I think that if I was a young player I would want to go there, to train among the Grand Slam champions. That would be an inspiration. All I wanted was to be close to Steve Davis when I was young, because I I thought I could learn something from him that would help me develop as a player," he added.
O'Sullivan said that the young should learn from the best.
"It's like Kenya and runners. If you want to be the best runner in the world, you have to go and live there because they know how to train and take it to another level. That's what I want to try to do," he said. is he.
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