Barry Hearn believes Ronnie O’Sullivan still has years ahead of him in his snooker career. The 48-year-old recently admitted that his days are numbered in the sport but Hearn thinks he will keep pushing after scooping his 40th ranking title at the UK Championship at the back end of last year.
“Ronnie O’Sullivan is actually capable of playing for years yet, looking at him I don’t see any technical reason why he doesn’t and I hope he does,” Hearn told Framed: The Snooker Podcast. “I hope he embraces his role, when he looks back on his legacy he can say he was a great entertainer and changed the world of snooker. That would be the legacy I would be looking for from him.”
Hearn and O’Sullivan haven’t always seen eye to eye over the years but the founder of Matchroom Sport is under no illusion of ‘The Rocket’s’ impact on the sport. “We have to give him all the credit in the world, the Ronnie O’Sullivan story takes some believing,” he added.
“If you wrote it down, a guy at 48 is still going to be this competitive. He has his moments, of course, but all geniuses have their moments, they’re not the same as you and I and Ronnie’s no exception.
“It doesn’t mean to say you have to agree with him, but you have to take your hat off to someone who is such a sustainable image of the game, puts bums on seats and gets people all over the world saying, ‘I want to watch this and I want to play this.’
“So Ronnie O’Sullivan takes a big plus out of this year [2023] for his playing performances alone, quite unbelievable.” O’Sullivan returns to action on Monday afternoon as he kicks off his Masters campaign against Ding Junhui at Alexandra Palace.
The last time the pair met, O’Sullivan beat Ding 10-7 in the UK Championship final in December. Ding will be hoping to spoil O’Sullivan’s bid for a record-extending eighth Masters title when they square off at 1pm in a best-of-11 frames contest.
O’Sullivan has a busy 2024 ahead of him once the Masters is wrapped up. He meets Pang Junxu in the first round of the World Grand Prix in Leicester next week before heading to Barnsley to face Alfie Burden for a last-64 spot in the World Open, set to commence in March.
Between his qualifying match and the main tournament, he is also booked in to play at the Welsh Open, Players Championship and Championship League providing he remains injury-free.
