Stephen Hendry believes Ronnie O’Sullivan will win a tournament this season despite the seven-time world champion’s recent struggles.
Hendry made the prediction on the latest episode of the Snooker Club podcast after O’Sullivan suffered another early exit at the China Open.
The 50-year-old was beaten 6-4 by Noppon Saengkham in the second round in Taiyuan, extending his wait for a ranking title to two-and-a-half years.
O’Sullivan’s most recent ranking success came at the World Grand Prix in early-2024, while he has now slipped to 14th in the world rankings.
The defeat was particularly disappointing for O’Sullivan himself, who was highly critical of his own performance afterwards.
“I’m just very poor,” a dejected O’Sullivan said in the post-match press conference. “Too many bad shots, bad frames, and silly mistakes.”
“I have been like this for four years so I’m used to it, but it’s frustrating. I don’t want to take anything away from Noppon.
“He played a really good match, he is cueing strong. I’m just a very poor snooker player at the moment, it’s as simple as that.”
However, Hendry believes O’Sullivan’s current problems do not necessarily mean that another title is beyond him.
“We’ve talked about it quite a lot with Ronnie, John [Higgins}, and Mark [Williams],” Hendry said on the Snooker Club podcast.
“All of a sudden, they’ll miss something that you can’t believe. It’s these little unforced errors and the easy shots that are costing them.”
“[But] I’m going to make a prediction. I think Ronnie will win a tournament this year. I think there will be a week where he’ll just hit form.
“We know that at his best he has produced unbelievable performances, and if he can string them together he will win a tournament.
“I don’t know which one, so it’s not the greatest of predictions. But I think he will win one, because he seems to be working his nuts off.
“He’s on the practice table all the time. He’s pounding the practice table.”
Hendry’s comments come despite O’Sullivan’s inconsistent form continuing for some time.
Indeed, the Scot offered a markedly different assessment of the Rocket only a few weeks ago on another podcast episode.
“He goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. He can suddenly look absolutely flawless and then go back to really struggling.”
“Ronnie’s game now is flashes of brilliance coupled with inconsistent form,” Hendry claimed.
The two views are not necessarily incompatible, though, and there has been evident throughout the last couple of seasons to back up both of Hendry’s points.
While there have been plenty of early exits, O’Sullivan did enjoy a promising run at the World Open in March before losing to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in a high-quality final.
He showed glimpses of his best form in Yushan, while this time last year he also came within a frame of landing the lucrative Saudi Arabia Masters crown.
The problem has been reproducing that level on a more regular basis.
His China Open defeat to Saengkham was another example, with O’Sullivan making the kind of errors that have become increasingly familiar during his recent struggles.
Saengkham went on to reach the final of the 2026/27 season’s second ranking event, ultimately losing 10-6 to Mark Selby in the title-deciding affair.
O’Sullivan will now have another opportunity to prove Hendry right at the upcoming Wuhan Open.
The event begins on Sunday, with O’Sullivan scheduled to face Ashley Carty in his opening match in the last 64.
Featured photo credit: WST
