Before the tournament O’Sullivan said he did not consider himself the greatest snooker player of all time, but he was in more bullish mood after his victory.
“To do what I have done in this season, I have done over a whole career,” he added. “I have been doing it for 30 years. I’ve had the greatest career of any snooker player.
“How many people can say they have been the best, or most successful, in their job ever? I have to really give myself a pat on the back because I don’t, I am hard on myself. Nobody has achieved what I have achieved on a table statistically.”
Hendry, speaking on BBC Two, feels O’Sullivan would benefit from a number of seeds being eliminated already, and could sweep through the tournament.
“I think this could be a procession, this World Championship. It looks like he’s on it, the draw’s opening up,” said Hendry. “Ronnie always beats who he’s supposed to beat when he’s supposed to beat them. He gets to the winning line with not one hesitation.
“It’s something you can’t teach, you either have that or you don’t. Two players in his half of the draw who have beaten him this season – Mark Williams and Zhang Anda – are both out. He has Judd Trump, possibly in the semis, who hasn’t beaten him since 2020.”
Page, the world number 43, added: “Ronnie has an aura around him and you feel it. He just puts you in positions that not many people can do – it’s just a nightmare.
“Everyone knows he can pot and break build, all the players can do that, but his safety is probably the best on tour by far but because his break-building is so good, no-one sees it.”
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