Ronnie O’Sullivan says Joe O’Connor is 'the new Graeme Dott' who can be 'world champion one day'
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 04/12/2022 at 18:59 GMT
Current world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan feels emerging talent Joe O'Connor has the tools at his disposal to win the World Championship. Stream the 2023 Masters and more top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch Seventh Heaven, a two-part show about Ronnie O’Sullivan’s historic World Championship win last season, on demand now.
O’Connor produces 'break of the tournament' to stun Robertson at Scottish Open
Joe O’Connor is trailing Gary Wilson in the final of the Scottish Open heading into the second session, but he goes into it with glowing praise from Ronnie O’Sullivan ringing in his ears.
O’Connor has been in the wilderness for some time, with his only other performance of note being when reaching the Welsh Open semi-finals in 2019.
However, he found form in Edinburgh this week - with the highlight to date being a brilliant victory over 2010 world champion Neil Robertson in the semi-finals on Saturday.
His victory over Robertson was filled with brilliant pots, solid safety and excellent mental strength as he fended off an opponent who made three centuries in the match.
The first session of the final with Wilson was littered with too many errors, but O'Sullivan feels the 27-year-old has the tools to go all the way to the top of the sport - and emulate another relatively unheralded player in Graeme Dott and win the World Championship.
"He reminds me of Graeme Dott," O'Sullivan said in the Eurosport studio. "I think he's the new Graeme Dott. I think he'll be world champion one day."
Dott beat Peter Ebdon 18-14 in the World Championship final at the Crucible in 2006.
O’Connor has a lot to do in the evening session against Wilson, as he trails 6-2, but O’Sullivan does not believe the game is up.
“If that was a top-four player, playing like that today, we’d have been saying what a performance, playing at the top of his form, it was brilliant stuff from both players,” O’Sullivan said in summary of the first session at the Meadowbank Sports Centre.
Looking ahead to the evening, O’Sullivan said: “I am a great believer that 6-1 is not a big lead if you go off and the other fella starts to play. These guys are capable of winning five, six frames on the bounce. It’s not like 20 years ago, it is done with centuries and in the blink of an eye.
“I don’t think it is over, there could be a lot of snooker to be played yet.”
- - -
Stream the 2023 Masters and more top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch Seventh Heaven, a two-part show about Ronnie O’Sullivan’s historic World Championship win last season, on demand now.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement