RONNIE O’SULLIVAN will go for sporting immortality this Bank Holiday weekend as he aims to win a record-equalling seventh Crucible crown.
After outclassing fellow Class of 92 member John Higgins 17-11, the Rocket raced into an eighth Betfred World Snooker Championship final thanks to a frame-winning break of 83.
Having led 15-9 from the morning, the world No.1 wrapped up the two frames he needed in this fourth semi-final session to knock out old foe Higgins and book a date against Judd Trump over two fascinating days in South Yorkshire.
The world No.1 is 18 frames away from drawing level with Stephen Hendry in the Sheffield stakes – the Scot’s unsurpassed tally of seven titles has remained the sport’s high mark since 1999.
Ever since he first burst onto the snooker scene as a prodigious teenager – and especially since he was first King of the World in 2001 – the Essex potter has been annually asked about his chances of one day matching Hendry.
It is a question he has deflected with ease throughout these past two weeks, putting into good use all that training from psychiatrist Steve Peters.
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This is the closest six-time world champ O’Sullivan has ever been, of course, and with a TV film crew documenting his every move, he could give them an epic, history-making finale.
O’Sullivan is showing age is just a number as he became the oldest world finalist since a 49-year-old Ray Reardon was defeated by Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins in this famous Sheffield Theatre in 1981.
The turning points in this encounter came in frame 16 when O’Sullivan won thanks to a re-spotted black that he had forced and one which maintained a four-frame advantage.
And then there was the superb 82 break in frame 18 which former player Dennis Taylor called an act of “genius”.
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O’Sullivan said: “I said to my mate I would have had more fun in the punditry box than playing snooker here.
“It is a difficult tournament, long 17 days. Some people take it to better than others. There is a circus around this tournament.”
Higgins added: “The way I was hitting the balls the last couple days I wasn’t going to come back.
“Ronnie was lethal. I couldn’t count at all if he had missed.
“Every time he got in, he was unbelievably lethal. I was really poor. Against Ronnie you cannot scrapping the balls about.
“He is a different animal than he has ever been.”
