Ronnie O'Sullivan has always been the maverick of snooker, but there was one thing he said off camera about John Higgins that would have surprised fans.
Ronnie O'Sullivan said something very interesting on John Higgins in 2021
Ronnie O'Sullivan's true admiration for John Higgins was expressed in some off-the-cuff remarks he made during the Coronavirus lockdown period. Snooker MC Phil Seymour was a first-hand witness when O'Sullivan admitted he was in awe of Higgins.
In 2021, O'Sullivan and the Scot were pitted against each other in the Players Championship. On paper, it was a close match-up, but the Rocket would've been heavily expected to prevail. Instead, the Wizard of Wishaw cast his magic and destroyed O'Sullivan 10-3 in Telford. O'Sullivan has won seven world championships over the course of his career – many of which after playing himself out of a hole. On this occasion, he was no match for Higgins' relentless potting. While he is not used to losing, O'Sullivan hinted to Seymour before the match that he could be given a hiding by Higgins.
Recounting the experience on the Onefourseven Snooker Podcast, Seymour revealed: "The ITV studio was up on a balcony because they were in a different bubble to us. It was a semi-final against Kyren and John was absolutely decimating him. We're waiting to come out after mid-session and you could hear them upstairs.
"I'm stood next to Kyren and Jill Douglas said something like 'it's looking like an easy night's work for John Higgins, he just needs one more frame to dispatch Kyren Wilson in devastating form'. Kyren looked up the balcony and just went 'thanks very much'. Then in the final, it's the mid-session interval, I'm waiting to announce the players out and Ronnie came early.
"That's very unlike Ronnie. He's normally turns up at the last minute and on he goes. So he arrived early and there's only me and him there. I said something like you're keen and he looked at me and said, 'Phil, I just want to get in that car and go home mate. When John Higgins is playing like this it's hardly worth playing him. You've got no chance'.
"I thought those were brilliant words, they were the sort of things that you wouldn’t hear Ronnie saying in an interview [on TV]. They were great words."
Seymour's co-host Shaun Murphy hailed Higgins as "one of the all-time greats", insisting that those who thought the 49-year-old's best days were behind him were mistaken. Murphy said: "A confident John Higgins is a problem for everybody. Somebody who you might've looked at, not as a soft draw, but not as the end of the world. You could think that maybe the best days of John's career were behind him.
O'Sullivan has the utmost respect for Higgins
"Maybe that might be true, but he says he thinks he's playing the best snooker of his life. He thinks he's a better player today than he's ever been. If he says that then who are we to argue with him?
"You now wouldn't want to face John Higgins at any stage of any tournament, let alone the World Championship which is just around the corner. He has just got everything hasn't he? And that's why Ronnie would say something like that. This is one of the best scorers of all time, one of the best tacticians of all time, best safety players. There isn't a part of John's game that is weak.
"Most players have got a weakness. Most players are either really good scorers and potters but not great tactically. Or they might be very, very good tactically with a great safety game but not great scorers. John Higgins has the full package and that's why he's one of the greats."
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