Ronnie O’Sullivan won his seventh World Championship by beating Judd Trump 18-13 in this year’s final.
That saw him finally match Stephen Hendry’s long-standing record and here, the PA news agency looks at the Rocket’s career in the majors.
Crucible conqueror
In addition to his seven tournament wins, O’Sullivan holds a number of other records at the Crucible.
His 30th appearance at the tournament matched Steve Davis’ all-time high, while his run over the last 17 days took him to 74 wins at the famous Sheffield venue, beating Hendry’s record by four.
His 20 quarter-finals and 13 semi-finals are also records while, aged 46, O’Sullivan surpasses his former coach Ray Reardon as the oldest ever world champion.
Along the way, he also passed 200 century breaks at the Crucible – the most memorable coming in 1997 when he recorded the fastest ever 147, in five minutes and eight seconds against Mick Price.
Major maestro
O’Sullivan already held the record of 20 wins across the ‘Triple Crown’ events but has now won the World and UK Championships and the Masters on seven occasions each.
His victory over Trump came in his eighth Crucible final, exactly matching his 7-1 record in UK Championship deciders, with his only defeats coming against Mark Selby – in Sheffield in 2014 and at York’s Barbican Centre in 2016.
He has reached 13 Masters finals, with a far more mixed record. The most recent, in 2019, saw him beaten 10-4 by Trump.
Hendry won six Masters and five UK titles for a total of 18 majors, while Davis won the World and UK six times each and the Masters three times.
O’Sullivan’s 39th ranking title also extended his lead over Hendry (36) in that list, with Higgins (31) the only other player above 30. Trump remains just outside the top five on 23.
