The World's Top 16 Players invited to participate in the Masters Tournament will officially kick off today at Alexandra Palace on January 9th. The 46-year-old, known as the seven-time-honoured Roño Sullivan, will begin his journey to reach his eighth Masters title.
According to the schedule, in the first round, Ronio Sullivan will face the post-90s Jack Lissovsky, before that, the two have only met 3 times, O'Sullivan is in an absolute lead of 3-3 wins. There is no doubt that O'Sullivan's first-round victory is not stressful. But whether he can win the 8th Masters title in the end, many fans will also be skeptical, after all, O'Sullivan's competitive status is declining with age.
In this regard, the old football king Steve Davis, who dominated the 80s, has his own opinion. In an interview, Davis said: "I think we all know how talented Ronnie is, and what people can't predict is how good Ronnie is in the game, sometimes we think he will slowly weaken, and until now, he is still strong." ”
Steve Davis also spoke about one of the most memorable games of his career, the 1997 Masters, when Steve Davis was 39 years old and, at a 4-8 deficit, eventually beat 21-year-old superstar Roninio Sullivan 10-8 to win his third Masters title.
It should be noted that in 1995 O'Sullivan won the Masters for the first time, and in 1966 he reached the Masters final again but unfortunately lost to Hendry and failed to defend his title, and in 1997 O'Sullivan reached the final for the third consecutive year. At the age of 39, Steve Davis could beat O'Sullivan, who was in the ascendant, and Steve Davis was a little afraid to imagine.
Davis continued: "At that time, if I played 10 innings with Ronnie, Ronnie could easily win 9 innings, while I could only win one. In my career, the 1997 Masters was an absolutely wonderful moment. I went through a pretty tough '90s and I thought my career was over. ”
"Beating Ronnie to win the Masters was the best way for me to end it and it was the icing on the cake for my career. To this day, Ronnie is still the most talented player in snooker, and in his body, including John and Mark Williams, age is no longer an obstacle. Look at me and Hendry, at the age of 40 it started struggling to win the championship and it was hard. ”
O'Sullivan, who competed in the 2022 Masters, is in the 30th year of his career. O'Sullivan has won three majors, masters and rankings than any other player in Snooker history. As for how far O'Sullivan can go? Are there any obstacles?
Steve Davis said bluntly: "I believe that if Ronnie wants to, he will still be rock solid in the game and will still be able to win the crucible championship at the age of 50." "On January 11 at 21:00 p.m. the Masters were not seen, O'Sullivan took on Jack Lissovsky.