World Championship 2016: Ronnie O'Sullivan says entertainment and titles make him a great
Last updated on .From the section Snooker
| 2016 World Snooker Championship |
|---|
| Venue: The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 16 April - 2 May |
| Coverage: Live on BBC TV, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport app, Connected TVs and online. |
Ronnie O'Sullivan says his combination of winning and entertaining the crowd means he should be considered one of snooker's greats.
"That is what makes me unique and separates me from the others," O'Sullivan, 40, told BBC Sport.
"Watching sport, I am a winner's man but I like to be entertained too. You have hit the jackpot if you have both."
Five-time champion O'Sullivan is the favourite to win the 2016 World Championship, which starts on Saturday.
'The Rocket' comes up against qualifier Dave Gilbert in the first round of the tournament at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre on Sunday at 14:30 BST.
This season, he won the Welsh Open in Cardiff to move second on the all-time list of most ranking titles with 28 alongside John Higgins and Steve Davis, eight behind Stephen Hendry's 36. Scot Hendry's record also included seven world titles.
Reigning world champion Stuart Bingham recently told BBC Sport O'Sullivan must match Hendry's World Championship title haul to be considered snooker's greatest player.
"I am not saying I am the greatest - that would be too big-headed to have as an opinion of myself. I will leave that for other people to decide," added world number six O'Sullivan.
"If I was to stake my case for reasons why I should be considered as one of the greats, I would like to think I entertain the fans like Jimmy White and Alex Higgins did, being the fans' favourite.
"I have also done what Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis did, which is dominate and claim world titles and be a winner.
"I can possibly reach 36 ranking events - that's winning two a year if I play for the next five years. I could do that, which is more realistic than winning seven world titles."
Who's 'gonna win' and who is a 'possible world champion'?
The top 16 ranked players were all present in Sheffield on the eve of the event, and BBC Sport asked each player to sum up their chances of winning the title in three words or fewer (seeding in brackets):
Stuart Bingham (1): Enjoy myself. Mark Selby (2): Play with confidence. Shaun Murphy (3): Level playing field. Neil Robertson (4): Give my all.
Judd Trump (5): I'm gonna win. Ronnie O'Sullivan (6): Average. Mark Allen (7): It's my time. John Higgins (8): Good outside bet.
Ricky Walden (9): Every chance. Joe Perry (10): Gonna be tough. Barry Hawkins (11): Not very good. Martin Gould (12): Same as everyone.
Mark Williams (13): Half a chance. Marco Fu (14): Better than before. Michael White (15): Possible world champion. Stephen Maguire (16): Don't play safe.
Breaking the double curse
Defending champion Bingham goes into the tournament knowing he needs to overturn the record books.
Bingham was a shock winner last May but no first-time winner has gone on to defend their title the following year, a phenomenon known as the 'Crucible Curse'.
He faces two-time finalist Ali Carter in the first round on Saturday (10:00 BST).
"I wish I was playing someone else," said Bingham, who has failed to win a title this season. "I have not beaten him the last six times we have played and it is going to be tough. There is a different pressure on me this year and I want to go out and enjoy myself."
World number five Judd Trump, 26, won the last tournament, the China Open, but no player has gone on to claim the season-ending World Championship in the same year.
"My form and my game is there," Trump, who faces Liang Wenbo in the first round, told BBC Sport. "This is the only tournament I get excited for.
"Not winning both events in the same year will change this time. It is an advantage to win the previous event, it gives me a confidence boost which will help."
'An absolute minefield'
BBC Sport pundit and 1991 world champion John Parrott: "This is the hardest championship I have ever seen. The draw is an absolute minefield. It is so difficult to choose just one player because wherever you look, there will be tough matches. Judd Trump and Neil Robertson will take some beating this year but they could meet as early as the quarter-final stage."
The numbers game
- World Snooker estimates a worldwide audience of 300 million, in around 90 countries.
- There will be 1,500 hours of broadcast time, including live coverage on BBC TV and online.
- The winner's prize is £330,000, an increase of £30,000 from last year.
- Eighty-six centuries were made in 2015 - the most ever at the tournament.
- Mitchell Mann is the only debutant this year and faces Mark Allen in the first round.
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In this case, Ronnie is. Hopefully he can on and claim all the records. He seems to have finally started knuckling down these last few years and picking up the titles.He can still go past Hendry and i think then there is no debate on who is the best of all time.
Of course he is a snooker great, any two bit reporter from a two bit reporting organisation knows this: Hendry, Davies, O'Sullivan are snooker greats by titles won. O'Sullivan, Higgins, White are greats by entertainment value and history.
Sadly, when he's retired, I suspect we'll all be talking about what he might have achieved if he'd overcome his demons.
Snooker would be boring if it were not for Ronnie, good luck to the bloke, most of us on here are probably just envious of such a talent.
The greats in any solo sport have to have that arrogant, selfish streak in them, that's what makes them stand out.
As for him being arrogant? Interviewer wants to know how he would place himself in context of the history of the game - O'Sullivan begins, "If I was to stake my case for reasons why I should be considered as one of the greats..."
That's just a decent, polite reply.
Donald Trump is arrogant.
Ronnie O is fine.
It only works if there is a level playing field.
Previous players, even up to the Steve Davis era had far fewer tournaments available to them.
If there had been 10 ranking tournaments a year when Reardon and Steve Davis were at their peak the record books would look very different.
Seems like an article saying water is wet.
Yeah he's one of the greats!
That's not arrogance, it's not opinion, it is a statistically verifiable fact!
Take one sentence from an interview that he's be kind enough to do, and twist it to make him sound arrogant.
The BBC continues to lower it's credibility, no wonder Ronnie has chosen to work with Eurosport.