Seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan does not think he is the greatest snooker player of all time, even as he bids for a record-breaking eighth Crucible title.
O’Sullivan, 48, begins his first-round match against 22-year-old Welsh qualifier Jackson Page on Wednesday (14:30 BST), with the second session on Thursday afternoon.
Another world title would move O’Sullivan one clear of Stephen Hendry’s seven Crucible successes in the 1990s.
O’Sullivan has already won the other two events in snooker’s Triple Crown – the UK Championship and the Masters – this season, the eighth time he has lifted each trophy, more than any other player.
Asked if he considered himself as the best ever, O’Sullivan said: “I don’t regard myself as the greatest. I’m one of them, maybe. You’ve got Hendry, [six-time world champion Steve] Davis, and my hat’s in the ring with them. I’ve had a different career to them. They did it over a ten-year period, whereas I’ve sort of gone off track, got myself together, back off track, then got myself back together.
“I’ve had to go on longer to get what I’ve got. I was a bit all over the show at times with stuff going on off the table and that can affect how you perform on it. Hendry and Davis pretty much had everything fitted around them to be focused on snooker and I didn’t have that.”