Ronnie O’Sullivan won an eighth UK Championship title in December (Picture: Getty Images)
Barry Hearn says Ronnie O’Sullivan still riding high at the top of the snooker world at 48 years old is scarcely believable, but also reckons the Rocket has plenty more chapters left to add to his story.
Victory over Ding Junhui last month gave O’Sullivan an eighth UK Championship title and cemented his position as world number one and he heads to the Masters this week looking for an eighth title in that Triple Crown event as well.
While the president of Matchroom Sport and the GOAT on the baize may not have seen eye to eye over the years, Hearn is full of respect for the Rocket and has nothing but praise for his enduring impact on the sport.
‘We have to give him all the credit in the world, the Ronnie O’Sullivan story takes some believing,’ Barry Hearn told Framed: The Snooker Podcast.
‘If you wrote it down, a guy at 48 is still going to be this competitive. He has his moments, of course, but all geniuses have their moments, they’re not the same as you and I and Ronnie’s no exception.
‘It doesn’t mean to say you have to agree with him, but you have to take your hat off to someone who is such a sustainable image of the game, puts bums on seats and gets people all over the world saying, “I want to watch this and I want to play this.”
‘So Ronnie O’Sullivan takes a big plus out of this year [2023] for his playing performances alone, quite unbelievable.’
Hearn believes O’Sullivan is far from finished yet and certainly hopes that is tha case.
‘Ronnie O’Sullivan is actually capable of playing for years yet, looking at him I don’t see any technical reason why he doesn’t and I hope he does,’ he said.
‘I hope he embraces his role, when he looks back on his legacy he can say he was a great entertainer and changed the world of snooker. That would be the legacy I would be looking for from him.’
Barry Hearn is now president of Matchroom Sport, with Eddie Hearn the chairman (Picture: Getty Images)
While Barry is taking a slightly less active role these days as president of Matchroom, his son Eddie is the chairman of the company and doesn’t quite have the passion for snooker that his father has always enjoyed.
That is not to say that Eddie is not committed to the success of the sport, and he is well aware of the importance of the Rocket.
‘I’m more of a casual snooker fan, and what dad said about Ronnie is 100 per cent right,’ said Eddie. ‘You speak to any casual snooker fan, a sports fan and asked them to tell you about snooker and the first thing they’d say to you is Ronnie O’Sullivan.
‘To see him in the UK [Championship] and going into the Masters, he is the one that is going to drive interest, drive ticket sales, drive viewing figures.
‘He’ll like to hear that because he’ll like to know that he has that power, but he does, there’s no point denying it, he’s a star asset.
‘But obviously Judd Trump has had a good year, Ding Junhui in the final [of the UK] and you need those standouts, you need those names to build characters.’
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‘It doesn’t mean to say you have to agree with him…’