Ronnie O'Sullivan: How many World Snooker Championship titles has The Rocket won in his legendary career?
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Published 25/04/2024 at 13:24 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan is into his third decade of World Championship snooker and the world No. 1 is aiming to become the outright most successful player in the modern era at the Crucible this year. The Rocket has been breaking records ever since his debut in 1993, and another is in his sights. The bookies have made O'Sullivan the favourite for the title, after his Masters and UK Championship wins.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan and the World Snooker Championship share a long and glorious history, with The Rocket aiming to win a record eighth title at the Crucible in 2024.
O’Sullivan already has the record for the most appearances in the final stages of the competition that was first held in 1927, with 32.
The 48-year-old overtook snooker legend Steve Davis’ tally of 30 in 2023, a year after surpassing his haul of six world titles, beating Judd Trump 18-13 in the final.
No player from the modern era has more than The Rocket’s seven World Championship titles, though Stephen Hendry, aptly nicknamed ‘The King of the Crucible’, was the first to reach that total in 1999.
O’Sullivan was beaten in the semi-final by Hendry in that year’s edition, his third final-four appearance since his debut at the age of 17 in 1993, then becoming the second-youngest player ever to play in the tournament.
But The Rocket had to wait until 2001 for his maiden World Championship win, defeating second-seed John Higgins 18-14 in a hard-fought showpiece final.
The victory also completed O’Sullivan’s career Triple Crown, a feat only 11 players have managed since the UK Championship was created in 1977.
Not only does he hold the record for the most Triple Crown titles – 23 – but he also became the oldest winner of all three events after his triumph at the Masters in 2024, aged 48 years and 40 days.
Some would argue that if O’Sullivan goes all the way in this year’s World Championship, it would constitute his greatest feat yet.
An eighth title would pull him clear of Hendry, the only other active player with more than four to his name, and put him level with Fred Davis and John Pulman, who dominated the sport in the late pre-modern era.
Fred’s brother Joe Davis holds the almost unbeatable all-time record of 15 titles which he won back-to-back from 1927-1946.
Somewhat surprisingly given his longevity, this is the first season in which O’Sullivan has won the first two Triple Crown events.
If The Rocket gets his hands on the trophy in Sheffield in May, he will complete the set in a single season, joining Steve Davis, Mark Williams and Hendry as the only players to have clinched all three in one campaign.
The records will therefore tumble if, as many have predicted, O’Sullivan picks up the World Championship trophy and £500,000 prize money on May 6.
The second seed is the bookies’ favourite at 13/8 to win the competition prior to the completion of his first-round match against Wales’ Jackson Page.
And he is as short as 11-10 to reach the final, where history would be on his side given his scintillating track record in Championship deciders.
Only once has O’Sullivan finished as a runner-up for snooker’s biggest prize, when Mark Selby clinched his first world title by four frames in 2013.
The Rocket’s record in UK Championship finals is even more impressive, winning eight from nine.
But despite his raft of achievements, records and trophies, even O’Sullivan himself does not consider himself the greatest of all time.
Prior to his match with Page, the world No. 1 cited fellow seven-time world champion Hendry and six-time winner Steve Davis as ahead of him in the history of the sport.
Bookies' favourites for the title
Ronnie O'Sullivan: 13/8
Judd Trump: 11/4
Mark Allen: 7/1
Shaun Murphy: 11/1
Kyren Wilson: 12/1
Si Jiahui: 16/1
Most wins in the crucible era
Ronnie O'Sullivan: 7
Stephen Hendry: 7
Ray Reardon: 6
Steve Davis: 6
John Higgins: 4
Mark Selby: 4
Mark Williams: 3
John Spencer: 3
Alex Higgins: 2
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