O'Sullivan chasing eighth Crucible title aged 50

Müsabaka gündeminden önemli bir haber: O'Sullivan chasing eighth Crucible title aged 50 Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Ronnie O'Sullivan reached the semi-finals of the 2025 World Championship where he lost to eventual winner Zhao Xintong By Michael Emons Sport journalist at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Published 5 minutes ago Comments In 2001, Ronnie O'Sullivan won his first World Snooker Championship. Now, a quarter of a century later, he is aiming for a record-breaking eighth title. The 50-year-old has lifted the trophy seven times, a feat only matched by Stephen Hendry in the 1990s, with no-one in the modern era having more success.

O'Sullivan already holds numerous snooker records, including being the oldest Crucible final winner following his most recent success in 2022, aged 46. But even after having reached his own half-century, the player dubbed the Rocket is still blasting to new heights. Last month at the World Open in China he made a break of 153, the highest ever recorded in professional snooker, after benefiting from an early snooker that left him a free ball, which then acted like a 16th red.

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He reached the final of that tournament, and Shaun Murphy, who lost 5-3 to O'Sullivan in the last 16, was impressed with how he performed. "When I played him in Yushan he seemed pretty sharp and it was a very high-quality match," said 2005 world champion Murphy. "He has not been at his brilliant best this season, but when he gets in and in flow he is still as good as ever.

"It would be great for snooker if he did get to eight and great for him - it's a story everyone wants to write and it would be an incredible achievement. "But he is running out of time so he needs to do it sooner or later, but it's Ronnie O'Sullivan so you wouldn't put anything past him. " Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Ronnie O'Sullivan beat John Higgins in the 2001 final for his first world title, then won it in 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020 and 2022 Reigning champion Zhao a man in form The 17-day World Championship starts on Saturday, with the final beginning on Sunday, 3 May and concluding the next day.

O'Sullivan, who along with world number one Judd Trump were the only two of the 16 seeded players to not be at a media day at the Crucible on Friday, will play Chinese debutant He Guoqiang on Tuesday and Wednesday in round one. But, according to the bookmakers and some players, China's first world champion and reigning title holder Zhao Xintong starts as favourite having won four events this season, including three of the past five ranking tournaments. At the Tour Championship in Manchester this month, Zhao sent out a warning with an emphatic 10-3 demolition of Trump in the final.

"On form you would make Xintong favourite to retain his title," added Murphy. "He is just an incredible player to watch and someone the other players enjoy watching. "It's the first time in a long time when Ronnie is not number one favourite for the tournament.

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