Ronnie O’Sullivan labels Stephen Hendry a ‘freak’ and hails snooker rival
Ronnie O'Sullivan has spoken about the strengths of some of his rivals.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has called Stephen Hendry a ‘freak’ on the snooker table while heaping praise on his rival who he claims it is far easier to copy.
Hendry retired for the second time in his career earlier this year, bringing the curtain back down on a sensational career after failing to make an impact since rejoining the main tour three years ago.
He landed 36 ranking titles in his career, as well as an impressive seven world titles. But despite Hendry’s success, O’Sullivan has revealed that he wouldn’t want his children to try and emulate his style of snooker if they turned their hand to the sport.
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In the ultimate compliment, the Rocket somewhat reserved Hendry’s style for the Scot himself becsause of how uniquely he played.
Instead, O'Sullivan highlighted that Steve Davis is the player who should be looked up to because it's easier to emulate his play style.
Speaking on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio, O’Sullivan explained: “With Davis, if you’re going to follow a snooker player, and I still say that today, if I had a young kid, I’d make him watch Steve Davis videos.
“I wouldn’t make him watch Hendry videos as Hendry was unique. Hendry played a different game. It was scary, the shorts he took on and I still wouldn’t advocate playing that style of game unless you’re like a freak.
“Whereas Steve Davis, we can all become a Steve Davis and he is the greatest person to learn from. He was a great player but just the way he played the game, he was a great safety, great break builder, great potter, he had everything.
“Hendry was just an amazing potter and break builder, he didn’t want to play safe.”
O’Sullivan and Hendry faced off 56 times before the latter decided to hang up his cue, with the now-retired star winning five of those bouts and managing to hold on for a draw on five occasions.
It is not the first time that O’Sullivan has praised Hendry either, revealing how highly he thought of him in 2022. He said: “Stephen is an all-time legend for me, the greatest player.
“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.”
