Crucible crown in Rocket’s sights after sixth Masters title

Welsh potter Mark Williams took the eventual winner to a deciding frame in their opening round meeting, but O’Sullivan was hardly troubled since, dispatching both world number one Mark Selby and world champion Bingham before thrashing Hawkins.

Despite having been out of competitive action for eight months, the now six-time Masters winner admitted he was surprised at prevailing in the capital after his hiatus.

“I am over the moon. I knew I needed to raise my level,” stated O’Sullivan after triumphing. “I was able to do that and I managed my emotions well. I am delighted to play as well I have done.

“I am never normally surprised when I win…”

“I am never normally surprised when I win tournaments but I am surprised I have won it after eight months out. It is about producing when it matters.

“Dr Steve Peters [O’Sullivan’s psychiatrist] mentioned a couple of things and I just had to focus on each ball. If Barry played like he did in the semis, it would have been a great match.”

After levelling another Hendry record with his latest silverware coup, O’Sullivan is continuing to revel in success despite reaching 40 years of age, when many top cueists seemingly suffer a decline in form, and the latter Scot’s tally of seven world titles will now be high on priorities.

“This is only a week, but to keep your focus for 17 days at the World Championship is a grind,” he continued. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Can anybody stop ‘the Rocket’?

O’Sullivan’s grace and elegance around the Alexandra Palace table was a joy to behold once again, proving why he is snooker’s main attraction in front of a sold-out 2k-capacity crowd, and his undemanding path to a returning Masters success will be a worry to fellow cueists.

If ‘the Rocket’ was able to comeback from an eight-month absence and triumph, having done the same at the Crucible in 2013, who’s to say he cannot clinch another world title and edge closer to Hendry’s esteemed record?

World number one Selby was quite comfortably edged out by O’Sullivan in the quarter-final and is 9/1 for a second Crucible crown, while Judd Trump, regarded as the long-term leading light for the sport, is 7/1 to clinch his maiden Sheffield trophy.

Australian Neil Robertson rallied to Champion of Champions and UK Championship victories last year and will enter the 2016 World Championship as 11/2 second-favourite behind ‘the Rocket’, but his recent tournament wins came in events O’Sullivan did not participate in.

Barry Hearn has tried and succeeded in helping build snooker’s reputation and attractiveness as a sport worldwide. But, with its main man O’Sullivan having strolled back into competitive matchplay to secure another Masters victory, is there a player that is truly ready to tame ‘the Rocket’s’ superiority in the coming seasons and prove it isn’t all just about this mercurial potting genius? We will see in April as all eyes are cast towards Sheffield once again.

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