Ronnie O’Sullivan put together his top five snooker players ever, although his list is different to anyone else considering the quintet as he didn’t put himself in there.
The Rocket was speaking at the Shanghai Masters after beating Ali Carter 6-3 in his opening contest in the non-ranking event.
The 47-year-old set up a clash with his old rival John Higgins in the quarter-finals in Shanghai and the Scot was featured in O’Sullivan’s top five in snooker history.
The Wizard of Wishaw trails behind legendary names from the past, going all the way back to snooker pioneer and world champion 15 times from 1927-46, Joe Davis.
Asked for his top five ‘legend players in history’ at a post-match press conference, O’Sullivan said: ‘Stephen Hendry, number one. Steve Davis, number two. Joe Davis, number three. Ray Reardon, number four. John Higgins, number five.’
Asked whether he should have a place in the list, he said: ‘I don’t name myself.’
The Rocket and the Wizard will resume their rivalry on the table which dates back over 30 years when they used to batle it out as junior players.
O’Sullivan has always been full of respect and admiration for the Scot and he knows it will be a tough test when they meet on Thursday.
‘I’ve already put him in my legends list, so everyone knows what I think about John as a player,’ said O’Sullivan.
‘He’s been playing really well so far this season, helooked good in Germany, looked phenonmanl in his matches here so far.
‘It’ll be a tough game, but if I can give him a decent match I’ll be happy with that.’
O’Sullivan’s win over Carter was his first match of the season, so while he wasn’t at his blistering best, he looked comfortably good enough in the victory, making breaks of 101, 99, 81, 74 and 57 along the way.
He is right to say that Higgins is playing well, though, after he looked very good in a 6-3 win over Kyren Wilson earlier on Tuesday, and beat wildcard Deng Haohui 6-0 in round one, knocking in a 141 along the way.
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