The continuous debate (usually on social media and online forums) about who is the best snooker player of all time is one that will never die, and the four players debated more than any are Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins.
It’s quite a controversial and difficult task to answer ‘who is the best?’ seeing as there are a number of factors involved such as talent and titles won. Personally speaking I believe the overall “best” player is the one that’s actually lifted titles as opposed to player potential or speculative assumptions and to date, the person who won the most snooker titles is Stephen Hendry.
For the time being anyway, O’Sullivan and Higgins are a good distance from challenging Hendry’s 36 ranking title collection, but who will move into second place first?
If you were to ask yourself who the two most prominent players in snooker right now are, you might just pick Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins due to the amount of times they’ve been seen at the latter stages of tournaments over the past couple of months. Is this just by chance or are they fighting to make it to second place first?
The consensus among practically everyone in the world of snooker is that Ronnie O’Sullivan is the most naturally gifted player of all time and by far, has the most potential to lift more trophies than anyone else. But the fact remains; He hasn’t lifted the most, Stephen Hendry has with 36 ranking titles in total, 8 more titles than O’Sullivan, Higgins and Davis who all have 28 titles each.
In recent weeks you’ll have noticed a revival of Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins. Is it just coincidence that these two players are entering every tournament going, or are they secretly battling to make history by becoming the second most successful player of all time? I believe their rivalry is most interesting and goes far beyond what we see tournament to tournament. This one is about making the history books, but who’s going to get there first?
Ronnie O’Sullivan is a very difficult character to judge. One minute he ‘doesn’t care about snooker’ and the next he ‘loves the game’ and wants to play in everything available. Aside from being a wonderful talent and a genius on the table, he is an extremely competitive person and I believe his recent resurgence is down to the fact that Higgins is playing so well lately.
John Higgins is one of the best competitors snooker has ever seen. He might not have flair like O’Sullivan, but there’s something about the way Higgins plays the game that the fans adore.
Higgins and O’Sullivan have a massive amount of respect for each other. They both came through the junior rankings together and both turned professional around the same time. Not only that, but both players have been rivals (in a friendly and respectful manner) from day one.
Without any shadow of a doubt, by the end of this season one of these players will win at least one more ranking event given their current form and move into second place, but who will it be first?
O’Sullivan is clearly hungry for more success; Will he be first?
Or
Will it be Higgins, who is arguable back to his best?
