LONDON: Six-time world snooker champion Ronnie O’Sullivan cruised into the Crucible semi-finals for a record 13th time by wrapping up a 13-5 win over Stephen Maguire on Wednesday.
The 46-year-old reeled off breaks of 71 and 126 in the first two frames of the morning session to surpass the record he had shared with Stephen Hendry for reaching the last four in Sheffield. But despite closing in on Hendry’s modern-era record of seven world titles O’Sullivan is adamant that the Scot’s dominance of the sport in the 1990s still makes him the greatest player.
“Stephen is an all-time legend for me, the greatest player,” the world number one told the BBC.
“He was the Tiger Woods of snooker. Me, John (Higgins) and Mark (Williams) have all done well, but when he was flying he was a superstar.
“When there’s three of us, we’re not superstars. But when there’s one man dominating the sport like he did, like Tiger Woods, it’s a different level.”
O’Sullivan had carved out a commanding lead despite never quite hitting top form against Scottish qualifier Maguire on Tuesday, but showed glimpses of his best upon the resumption after a missed black from his opponent sealed his fate.
The Englishman, who will play either four-time winner Higgins or Jack Lisowski in the last four, said he was not at his best but was getting results.
“It’s workmanlike more than flowing, but I’ve had to learn to steady the ship and I think that’s the key to being consistent — being able to minimise the bad spells,” said O’Sullivan.