SHEFFIELD: The seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan claimed that he did not come to Crucible to equal Stephen Hendry’s record but to play the snooker.

The newly crowned world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, who equalled Hendry’s record of seven world championships following his 18-13 victory against Judd Trump in the final of the World Snooker Championship 2022, claimed he did not think about equalling Hendry’s record.

“I didn’t really feel like the favourite to win. I doubted myself a little bit, so to finally get a result like I did is special,” O’Sullivan said.

“Honestly, it [the record] has never been something on my mind. I didn’t come here to equal Stephen Hendry’s record, I came here to play snooker and to be honest I found it very, very tough,” he added.

 

O’Sullivan also shared the story behind his emotional moment with Trump after securing his seventh world title, saying the latter said some words which made me realize what this meant to him.

“I’ve grown up with Judd, we’ve shared a lot of time on the practice tables so to hear the words he said to me afterwards, I didn’t realise what that meant to him. It was nice to hear I was part of his development and it was a special moment – he choked me up,” he shared.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Englishman O’Sullivan, with his triumph in the recently concluded World Snooker Championship 2022, has finally managed to level with his childhood hero Hendry, who won his seventh world title in 1999.

The 46-years-old also produced more century breaks than any other in World Championships history.

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