Ronnie O’Sullivan will be back on top spot in the world rankings after the official update next week.
The Rocket will replace Mark Selby in the number one position of the world rankings list that is based on a two-year rolling system.
A significant amount of O’Sullivan’s tally is from his 2020 World Championship success, so with those points soon set to be deducted his time back in first may be short-lived.
But it’s still a remarkable feat for the 46 year-old, who will rise to the summit of the standings for the first time since 2019.
In the two years since his sixth triumph at the Crucible, O’Sullivan has won just one additional ranking title.
The Englishman, however, has featured in an additional six ranking finals, underlining his impressive consistency in terms of results even when his form may not have been at its peak.
“I was a bit shocked really,” Ronnie O’Sullivan told the World Snooker Tour when asked about the world rankings situation.
“When someone told me I was a bit surprised, but yeah it was a bit like when I won the world title after taking a year out.”
“That was a big shock that I was able to do that, and I was a little bit surprised that I was able to get to number one at this stage of my career.
“Like I said before, I’m going to try to be the first old-aged pensioner to be in the top eight – that’d be something.”
O’Sullivan was speaking after his epic 10-9 victory over Mark Williams, a result that helped him reach the last four of the prestigious Tour Championship in Llandudno.
A winner of the World Grand Prix on the Cazoo Series already this season, O’Sullivan compiled five century breaks in a gripping affair that concluded with a tense finale.
“I was feeling the butterflies, it’s impossible not to. But my mindset is to never get flustered over winning or losing any more,” O’Sullivan said.
“I’m going to squeeze as much out of it as I can. The whole package is really good at the moment, I can come to tournaments and it doesn’t matter whether I win or lose.”
“It won’t affect my life other than it’d be nice to win and I’m competitive anyway, so it’s a different type of mentality I have now.
“It was probably the best (Mark’s) played against me and one of the best I’ve ever played against him. For us both to play well together at the same time is quite rare, it was a tough game.”
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Tour Championship Draw
Zhao Xintong (1) 9-10 John Higgins (8)
Luca Brecel (5) vs Judd Trump (4)
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Ronnie O’Sullivan (3) 10-9 Mark Williams (6)
Mark Allen (7) 6-10 Neil Robertson (2)
Featured photo credit: WST
