Ronnie O’Sullivan has been hailed as Britain’s greatest sportsman by Neil Robertson after producing his latest astonishing display, this time at the Saudi Arabia Masters.
O’Sullivan is near-universally recognised as the best snooker player to have ever lived, boasting more Triple Crowns, ranking titles and century breaks than anyone in history. He also sits level with Stephen Hendry for most world title wins, triumphing on seven occasions in the Crucible.
“The Rocket”, now 49, showed he still very much has it in him to deliver the goods in the Middle East, achieving the rare feat of two maximum breaks in his semi-final win over Chris Wakelin.
Robertson went on to pip O’Sullivan to the title in a 10-9 thriller but was sure to give the snooker icon his flowers.
"That match, if that doesn’t cement him as Britain’s greatest ever sportsman I don’t know what will," Robertson told Metro.
"To do it at the speed he was doing it as well. We’ve never seen anything like it in the game and we will never have anything like it in the game."
O’Sullivan has had to overcome mental health struggles during his prolonged success in the sport, previously speaking candidly about his battles with anxiety.
He admitted he was scared to approach a snooker table during his break from the game and feared he had lost his bottle, acknowledging ahead of this year’s World Snooker Championship that he could still pull out of the upcoming at short notice.
"Don’t forget the things that he’s struggled with, his anxiety and things like that," Robertson added. "For him to be able to perform like that, it’s just remarkable.
"I can’t think of any other athlete who’s been able to achieve what he has in his sport while dealing with all these other issues while being the best to watch at the sport and for all the fans wanting him to win. The guy’s an absolute champion."
O’Sullivan has returned to action this week at the Xi’an Grand Prix in China, already notching a century against Iulian Boiko.
