Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry insists Ronnie O’Sullivan does care about breaking his record, despite his recent comments suggesting otherwise. O’Sullivan, who is priced at 23/10 to win the 2018 Dafabet Masters, lifted the UK Championship title on Sunday as he dispatched of Shaun Murphy with relative ease in York.
The 42-year-old proved far too strong for the 2008 UK champion and clinched a 10-5 victory at the Barbican to secure the title for a sixth time. He subsequently drew level with Steve Davis, who picked up his sixth title at the event in the 1980s, by racking up breaks of 75, 104, 76, 103 and 59 on course to pocketing the £170,000 top prize. The Englishman has also moved level with Hendry’s incredible haul of 18 titles at snooker’s Triple Crown majors – the UK Championship, World Championship and Masters.
O’Sullivan now heads to Glasgow for the Scottish Open but his mind will surely already be thinking further ahead to the Masters next month with a record 19th major crown up for grabs. The Rocket suggested after his triumph at the UK Championship that he doesn’t think too much about records but Hendry believes that is just a smokescreen to hide his real ambition. Hendry said: “Ronnie can say what he wants about how he doesn’t care, but when he gets to that table does he look like he doesn’t care? I don’t think so. “He wants to win and perhaps when he loses he’s got other things in his life, but he’s a winner. There’s no doubt in my mind he knows how many he’s got and he knows how many he needs to get.”
Dafabet Scottish Open odds available at Dafabet.