[Other Sport] Ronnie O'Sullivan: the best snooker player ever?

[One Teddy Maybank]

People have very short memories. To my mind it has to be Jow Davis, his namesake Steve, or Stephen Hendry.

The number of titles won has to have a big bearing on who is the best player.

I agree with this.

Though when Joe Davis won his titles it was probably a lot less competitive.

At least Steve Davis and Hendry had competition from Jimmy White, Thorburn, Griffiths, Higgins and Taylor amongst others.


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[Is it PotG?]

I used to think Hendry was and would be as good as it gets. When Ron's in the zone, he's beyond that.

The tournament pockets nowadays are barely big enough for the ball, whereas back in the day you could get a basketball in there.

 

[maffew]

IMO without a shadow of a doubt he is the most skillful most talented player ever. It's hard to measure 'best', I would say probably yes. His ability to play left handed is freaky

In 10-15 years time I suspect a Chinese player or several will up the ante, their snooker acadamy's are military precision

 

[Bold Seagull]

People have very short memories. To my mind it has to be Jow Davis, his namesake Steve, or Stephen Hendry.

The number of titles won has to have a big bearing on who is the best player.

What do you mean short memories with Joe Davis - the world title was played in a tiny smokey hall with about 20 people watching, it wasn't on the TV, so you've pretty much got to be 80+ and were there not to have a short memory!

You were pretty much in it if you had your own cue – it wasn't until 1939 that the competition was increased from 8 players to 12, in that year Joe Davis only had to win 3 matches to win the title as he had a bye in round 1, bit of a difference from the 16 seeds and 16 qualifiers, and the amount of matches those 16 qualifiers needed to get through. Winning 5 matches against an incredibly competitive field is a far cry from 8 blokes in a dingy snooker hall from the 30s and 40s.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

There is a historical thread of five great snooker champions who dominated their era and in doing so achieved a new standard of excellence...

Joe Davis
Ray Reardon
Steve Davis
Stephen Hendry
Ronnie O'Sullivan

Joe Davis is respected as a great champion of a bygone era.
Ray Reardon is a marginal call but he won multiple WCs and established a new modern standard of playing the game.
Steve Davis came along in the 80s and went way past Reardon in terms of standards achieved.
Stephen Hendry challenged and then ultimately surpassed Steve Davis
Ronnie O'Sullivan has now gone clearly past Hendry and there is more to come from The Rocket.

Logically, there will be many players in the future that play to a generally higher standard than Ronnie - that is just inevitable with advances in technology and practice methods (notably mental skills).
It will take a very long time though for any individual to usurp Ronnie as "The Greatest" - I expect him to set the bar for the next person at 20+ "majors" and that might never be beaten...

He will forever be my favourite sportsman of all time. I just hope YouTube or equivalent is easily available to continue watching his catalogue of matches and breaks long after he has retired.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Ronnie O'Sullivan is easily the best player of all time, he's brilliant at all aspects of the game and would probably win the majority of events with his weaker left hand, if he so chose.

The man is a total maverick, unbelievably good to watch.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Ronnie O'Sullivan is easily the best player of all time, he's brilliant at all aspects of the game and would probably win the majority of events with his weaker left hand, if he so chose.

The man is a total maverick, unbelievably good to watch.

Agree with all this. Agree also with people making the point that in his time Joe Davis was equally highly regarded.

Just watched a video of Joe's first televised 100 break and the connection through the decades to Ronnie as kindred spirit is obvious. Joe was head and shoulders above his peers - achieving standards that the others couldn't get close to most of the time - and he even played some shots left-handed...

The pockets were COMPLETE BUCKETS mind...!!!

 

[Mackenzie]

Ronnie is the most talented snooker player of all time, but Steve Davis would have seriously pissed him off had Ronnie been about in the 80's.

For sheer talent though it's Ronnie.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Call me Mr Boring, but the World Championship Final I've most enjoyed was Dott vs Ebdon. It was horrendously dull for hours at a time, but it was absolutely fascinating watching two blokes slugging away, neither of them was prepared to even THINK about stepping off it and allowing the other to take even a single frame. Everything had to be earnt, every ball was important and every shot was crucial. It was fascinating to watch and although it wasn't the most entertaining, it was definitely the most intense and dramatic.

 

[loco61]

Rocket v The Wizard starting soon!

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[Moshe Gariani]

Rocket v The Wizard starting soon!

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Higgins has just made tons in second and third frames to go 3-0 up. He is playing incredible stuff and it would take a miracle for Ronnie to get back into this one.

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[Dr. No]

I was looking forward to a tense and nervy late night snooker final, but The Rocket had other ideas and wrapped it all up before 9pm.

Incredible player, but the best ever?

No.

 

[loco61]

Higgins has just made tons in second and third frames to go 3-0 up. He is playing incredible stuff and it would take a miracle for Ronnie to get back into this one.

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Having to settle for Ally Pally and The Power here in Germany ... the best ever? yes for sure... MVG might close in on him one day

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