At the 2022 World Snooker Championships, the 46-year-old O'Sullivan won five consecutive games to win the championship, and the seven world championships tied Hendry, harvesting a series of records while also making the "best of all time" discussion disappear.
Still, O'Sullivan's career has never been accompanied by controversy. He was stripped of a title for failing a drug test, withdrew from the quarter-finals of the 2006 British Championships, and was fined for some physical movements and speech.
During Barry Hearn's time at the helm of Snooker, O'Sullivan repeatedly criticized some of the current state of the snooker movement. Even at this World Championship, the "Rockets" final clashed with referee Materiae, and once stole a lot of news. He also faces a disciplinary investigation over a move in the first round.
Hearn said: "To be honest, I always thought he was the best ever, seventh world champion, the record of equalizing Hendry, completely consolidating that. ”
"Now we can officially say that he is without a doubt the greatest of the people with clubs."
"We've witnessed Ronnie's noble performance and brilliant achievements, and we've witnessed all his controversies, which are all part of his genius, but if he breaks the rules, we don't have to accept it." It's nice not to be involved in the disciplinary investigation process, which can be time-consuming. ”
"Watching geniuses sometimes comes at a cost, but that doesn't mean they won't be punished. But you do need to learn to put up with something. Alex Higgins, Ellie Nastasser (tennis player), Ian Bossom (cricketer)... These geniuses have extroverted personalities in the sport they engage in. Sometimes this personality crosses the boundaries that people can tolerate, but that's the price of genius, and if you take that personality away, you take away what will take away what will bring them to the same level. ”
'Alex Ferguson (Manchester United boss) treats Eric Cantona in a different way, Ferguson is known for his player management and I like his approach – holding him before pinching him.
"But in my opinion, what makes Ronnie's achievement special is the environment in which he belongs. Joe Davis won the world championship year after year because he had no opponents. And the real sign is who your opponent is, that's to be the best legacy. His results have been achieved in a long-term competition with great players, not only Higgins and Williams, who are also '75 three masters', but also Steve Davis, Hendry, Robertson, Selby, Trump and so on. ”
"Hendry was the best of his time, and that was the only thing that could be done — to be the first man of his time." Ronnie's glory days have lasted much longer than anyone else's, which makes his record even more admirable. ”
"Davis ruled in the 1980s, Hendry was the dominant figure in the 1990s, and Ronnie was twice as long as they were, and he was playing against the players who followed his example, Davis and Hendry. In his period, snooker's standards improved. ”
O'Sullivan, for his part, refused to consider himself the "best of all time" in the interview. "The weight of a seventh world title is heavy for everyone – I can feel it."
"But I don't think of myself as the best player of all time. A lot of players have the skills I want to have. I try to improve where they do better than I do. ”
"I just enjoy playing and competing. Who is the greatest, does it matter? Not so for me. ”
"Media people, players, officials, we've made the sport wonderful. It's good to be at the top of the sport you're playing. ”
"Even if I win the eighth world title, I don't think I'm the greatest, not at all."
"Snooker and I have a love-hate relationship because I hate it when I don't play well."
"Once the performance is good, I get a lot of fun from it. Now I'm better able to deal with a bad situation than before. ”