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- ‘The Rocket’ opens his account in Saudi Arabia against Ben Woollaston on Tuesday
LONDON: Snooker icon Ronnie O’Sullivan has said it is unlikely the sport will again see the likes of the “Class of 1992,” the name given to the trio which includes himself, Mark Williams and John Higgins, once they eventually hang up their cues.
O’Sullivan opens his Saudi Arabia Masters account against Lei Peifan on Tuesday and spoke to SportsBoom.com ahead of the match about the trio’s longevity in the game.
“The Rocket,” Higgins and Williams, who have pocketed 14 world championships between them, have taken the sport to new heights during their three-decade-plus reign in the game and, despite fast approaching their 50s, the status quo remains in place as they fight it out for the £500,000 ($656,879) top prize at this week’s event in Riyadh.
O’Sullivan said: “I don’t think you will see three (players) have that sort of longevity again, certainly not in snooker anyway.
“I think we've pushed each other on in a way. One from Scotland, one from England, one from Wales, so there’s always been that rivalry there; there’s been a three-way rivalry going on.”
O’Sullivan said he and his rivals looked up to the likes of Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Jimmy White as inspiration for their ascent to the top of the game.
“I think obviously Stephen (Hendry) helped us as well because he was a really good yardstick. We grew up watching him, we came to tournaments and saw just how good he was and where we needed to get to,” he said.
“He was the man to beat. It took us a while and then he started declining. But we were already on that treadmill, that hard school of knocks if you like, where we were competing with guys like him, (Steve) Davis, John Parrott and Jimmy (White).
“We started getting in and amongst it when we were like 21 and from that age onwards, we’ve sort of kept that momentum and kept that professionalism and that hunger and desire to win.”
The seven-time world champion said Williams and Higgins were among the best to have ever played snooker and paid tribute to their ability to remain at a high standard for so long.
He said: “I played the best player ever in Hendry. I played Higgins and Williams. For me they’re the three best players I’ve ever played against. For me, I’ve never played against anyone who can play to their level consistently.
“Everyone has good matches or good seasons, but to do it over a 30-year period or even a 10-year period is not easy to do. They’re obviously in a league of their own.”
The top 16 in the world rankings, including O’Sullivan, Higgins and Williams, enter the Saudi event — which boasts a hefty prize pot of £2.3 million — in the last 32 on Tuesday.
The Englishman has regularly reinvented himself during his illustrious career. His record-breaking CV is a roll call of the game’s biggest records, including most Triple Crown majors (23), most ranking titles (41), and most maximum 147 breaks (15). He is the only man to surpass 1,000 century breaks.
“Any one of us could be No. 1 still; there’s not a lot between us,” he said.
“I’m not surprised in many ways because I know how good those guys are; I grew up with them. You can’t just be good at potting or break building, you need more than that to survive; you need an all-round game.
“Even if things aren’t going great, we have this ability to stay in the game and keep relevant.”