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Ssb - that winning feeling
Ronnie O’Sullivan is right when he says John Higgins could have won more in his career.
But of course the same is also true of O’Sullivan himself.
Both players are supremely talented and can hold their heads high in the pantheon of all time greats. They have won far more than most.
One of the simplest reasons they haven’t won even more is that they have played in the same era. They each turned pro in 1992 and have met in a number of finals, one stopping the other from winning.
But it is also true that neither Higgins nor O’Sullivan have had that relentless mindset shared by Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry to win all the time.
Both have admitted as much. Higgins openly confesses that he has at times preferred family life to practising while O’Sullivan told Gabby Logan on the BBC’s Inside Sport last year that, “I haven’t got the passion it takes to be a Michael Schumacher, a Hendry, a Phil Taylor.”
Most snooker players don’t. It takes an extraordinary act of will not to celebrate a major tournament victory but to simply forget about it, go back to the club, work hard and get ready to win the next one.
That’s what Davis and Hendry both did and that’s why they won so much.
None of this takes anything away from the achievements of Higgins and O’Sullivan.
They first won ranking titles as teenagers. Between them they have won the last three world titles, so are clearly still the men to beat.
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But of course the same is also true of O’Sullivan himself.
Both players are supremely talented and can hold their heads high in the pantheon of all time greats. They have won far more than most.
One of the simplest reasons they haven’t won even more is that they have played in the same era. They each turned pro in 1992 and have met in a number of finals, one stopping the other from winning.
But it is also true that neither Higgins nor O’Sullivan have had that relentless mindset shared by Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry to win all the time.
Both have admitted as much. Higgins openly confesses that he has at times preferred family life to practising while O’Sullivan told Gabby Logan on the BBC’s Inside Sport last year that, “I haven’t got the passion it takes to be a Michael Schumacher, a Hendry, a Phil Taylor.”
Most snooker players don’t. It takes an extraordinary act of will not to celebrate a major tournament victory but to simply forget about it, go back to the club, work hard and get ready to win the next one.
That’s what Davis and Hendry both did and that’s why they won so much.
None of this takes anything away from the achievements of Higgins and O’Sullivan.
They first won ranking titles as teenagers. Between them they have won the last three world titles, so are clearly still the men to beat.
More...
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