Ronnie O’Sullivan backed to win World Championship – but could old rival playing ‘lights-out snooker’ stop him?

ByBen Snowball

Updated 26/04/2022 at 19:37 GMT

With a combined age of 139 and 13 world titles between them, you might think Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams and John Higgins would be thinking about slowing down. Not so. Instead, the fabled Class of ’92 stars are firmly in the hunt for snooker’s biggest prize – again – and look the three form players heading into the quarter-finals. So could any of them secure the trophy at the Crucible?

Class of ’92 stars Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams and John Higgins are the best players in the world, according to Jimmy White, as the Whirlwind and fellow Eurosport expert Alan McManus backed the Rocket for a record-equalling seventh World Championship title.

All three are safely through to the last eight at the Crucible in Sheffield, with O'Sullivan and Higgins on a collision course for a semi-final showdown.

O’Sullivan, the world No. 1, looked in scintillating form as he dismantled Northern Ireland Open champion Mark Allen 13-4 on Sunday.

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Williams has arguably been the most impressive of all, making at least a 50 break as he ripped through the first seven frames of his 13-3 win over Jackson Page, secured with a session to spare.

Higgins found another level to dismiss Noppon Saengkham, winning seven frames in a row to turn a shared first session into an 11-5 rout in the next. He returned to complete a 13-7 win on Monday.

“They are the best players in the world it must be said,” said White on Eurosport ahead of Monday’s evening session.

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When asked which Class of ’92 star is best-placed to win the world title, McManus quickly replied: “Ronnie. He’s playing the best.

“Closely followed by Mark Williams. He is playing lights-out snooker. Mark Williams has always been streetwise, he’s always been clever. He’s an alley cat of a player, he knows every inch of the Crucible.

“But he’s never in his life scored this heavy or consistently heavy as he is right now and that makes him ultra-dangerous.

“He’s always been able to win but he’s going away from opponents right now and that’s a worry for whoever plays him.”

White also opted for O’Sullivan.

“I said it at the beginning of the tournament, he’s hitting the ball as good as ever. He’s going to take some beating because every part of his game is top drawer and he’s very sharp,” said White.

With Judd Trump, the form player of the past few seasons, boasting just a solitary ranking title this season, and defending champion Mark Selby already out after courageously documenting his mental health battle, the likelihood of O’Sullivan, Williams or Higgins carting off the world title in a week’s time is even higher.

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Stream the World Championship and other top snooker live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.

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