'I am sure he’d like to put that right' - Ronnie O'Sullivan surprised Neil Robertson has only one world title

ByAlex Livie

Updated 07/11/2021 at 19:30 GMT

“Everybody rates Neil Robertson as a fantastic player,” O’Sullivan said on Eurosport pundit duty for the English Open final between Robertson and John Higgins. “His CV is amazing and when he plays well, he plays very, very well. He is capable of it and he has that Rolls-Royce cue action that most snooker players envy."

Neil Robertson is a 20-time ranking tournament winner, but Ronnie O’Sullivan is surprised the Australian has only one world title to his name.

The Victoria native broke through in the game’s showpiece event in 2010, and has arrived at the Crucible on a host of occasions since that win well fancied to go all the way.

However, he has repeatedly come up short - with his best effort since 2010 when running to the semi-finals in 2014.

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It has been suggested that the tight nature of the Crucible’s two-table setup does not play to Robertson’s strengths, as he has a pre-shot routine where he walks into the table. That is not possible in Sheffield until the event switches to one table at the semi-final stage.

Robertson will be 40 next year, but his powers show no signs of waning and O’Sullivan believes the Australian has the tools to make off with multiple major events.

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“Everybody rates Neil Robertson as a fantastic player,” O’Sullivan said on Eurosport pundit duty for the English Open final between Robertson and John Higgins. “His CV is amazing and when he plays well, he plays very, very well.

“It’s a little surprising he has not won the World Championship more than once.

“I am sure he’d like to put that right in the big, big tournaments.”

The UK Championship is one of the big three snooker events along with the World Championship and the Masters - albeit the latter is not a ranking tournament.

Robertson has three UK Championships and one Masters to his name, and O'Sullivan feels he will be hungry for more.

“He'd like to maybe get two or three [more] Worlds, two or three [more] UKs," O'Sullivan said. "But he is capable of it and he has that Rolls-Royce cue action that most snooker players envy.”

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