Ronnie O’Sullivan has gone “full circle” and only cares about victories rather than how he performs. That is the verdict of his old rival Stephen Hendry, who has sent a fierce warning to the world of snooker that the Rocket is better than ever.
O’Sullivan won a record-extending eighth UK Championship title earlier this month. He beat Ding Junhui in the final in York to write another chapter in his incredible career.
It wasn’t a breeze for the Rocket, who had a number of close encounters throughout the tournament. He also managed to get the job done, something Hendry believes makes him an even more dangerous opponent.
The Scot said on the WST podcast: “There were two or three times in the week when he could, and perhaps should have lost. What he does now, and it is incredible, is that he does just enough to win.
“He used to talk about in years gone by when he wasn’t bothered about results, but his performances. It’s now sort of turned full circle. It’s now not about the performances, but getting the wins.
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“Which makes him a much more dangerous proposition. There were two or three times during the week where he could have lost, and didn’t play his best.”
Hendry thought O’Sullivan was a beaten man in the final. However, he claims the 48-year-old showed a side to his game that makes him harder than ever to beat.
Hendry added: “I must confess when it went to 7-7 in the final, I thought Ding was going to win, but Ronnie then made a century. He just found a gear at the right time, and that’s what the great champions do.
“He did say he wasn’t playing his best, but qualified that by saying he was trying to his best to get the result. And that makes him so much tougher to beat for the rest of them.”
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Hendry also hailed O’Sullivan’s cue action, claiming his own style sets him aside from any other player. He continued: “I think he’s got a fantastic cue action. He goes through and strikes the cue ball beautifully.
“When you watch closely, there is a lot of movement before he strikes the cue ball that is not textbook. But Judd [Trump] is certainly not textbook, you’d couldn’t teach that and wouldn’t change it.
“[Neil] Robertson is probably the benchmark when it comes to technique in snooker. But the control Ronnie has on the cue ball. You couldn’t do that if you had a bad technical fault.
“Everyone misses pots, even Ronnie. If you miss a pot, more often than not you haven’t cued it properly, or something has gone wrong. Generally, the way he strikes the cue ball is as good as it gets, basically.”
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