Ronnie O’Sullivan begrudgingly accepts John Higgins ‘truth’ with final word of warning

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Ronnie O’Sullivan reluctantly accepts John Higgins’ truth with a final word of warning. The pair are set to compete at the UK Championship which returns to the Barbican Centre in York.

O’Sullivan begins his quest to add to his record-breaking roll of titles to eight when he competes against former ranking event winner Michael White in the opening round tomorrow. 

Higgins hopes to go one better at the tournament as he begins it after suffering three consecutive final losses this season.

O’Sullivan said he understood the Scot’s assertion that despite all the success he has achieved in the game, the veteran no longer feels he is able to sustain his level against some of the younger players. 

“There is probably an element of truth in that,” said O’Sullivan. “You can’t be going into your fifties and competing with players who are in their mid-thirties and early forties.

“You can’t be brilliant at something for your whole life, and I do believe there is a certain tapering-off period. That goes for me, Williams and Higgins.

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“But I think what we need to be made more aware of is how long we have kept it going for, a bit like (Roger) Federer, (Rafael) Nadal and (Novak) Djokovic. That’s something to be celebrated.”

Despite Higgins view, O’Sullivan, who made his professional debut in 1992 aged just 16, still think the older players are capable of performing at the highest level.

He added: “I still think John is capable of winning tournaments but probably not as regularly as us used to.

“He is probably as good a player, if not better, than he has ever been, but winning tournaments is sometimes not just about the way you play.

“The older guys are still at the business end of tournaments more often than not. Maybe we are not as finished as we thought we were, but we are not going to be as dominant as we were.”

This was evident with The Rocket, who won his sixth world championship just last year, but has lost each ranking final he has reached since then.

But the world number three hopes he can go one better at one of his most successful tournaments.

I think it does hold a special place,” added O’Sullivan. “It was the first professional tournament I won and it is probably the tournament that means the most to me, obviously with the World Championship.

“It was great to win the Worlds six times and the Masters seven times. All of these tournaments are great because they are our majors and the most important.

“You put a big asterisk next to them when they are coming up. They are the ones you want to win as a player.”

Can Ronnie win yet another big title and further add to his storied legacy? Or will John Higgins capture another UK championsip?

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