![From fast food worker to cybersecurity engineer with Tae'lur Alexis [Podcast #169]](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1745242807605/8a6cf71c-144f-4c91-9532-62d7c92c0f65.png?#)
Ronnie O’Sullivan names the ‘best all-round player’ in history ahead of World Snooker Championship
Ronnie O’Sullivan feels John Higgins would have won more if he played a more ‘aggressive’ style (TNT Sports) Ronnie O’Sullivan has named John Higgins as the best ‘all-round player’ in history ahead of the World Snooker Championship. O’Sullivan, who is aiming to win a record eighth world title this year, faces a tough test in the first round against Ali Carter. Higgins, meanwhile, has won the World Snooker Championship four times in his career, and will play Joe O’Connor in round one. The 49-year-old Scot heads into the tournament full of confidence having come from behind to beat Mark Selby in the Tour Championship final earlier this month. And O’Sullivan, who beat Higgins in the World Snooker Championship final in 2001, feels The Wizard of Wishaw would have won more in his career if he played with a more ‘aggressive’ style. ‘John was probably the best all-round player that’s ever played the game, yeah, without a doubt,’ O’Sullivan told TNT Sports. John Higgins beat Mark Selby to win the 2025 Tour Championship final earlier this month (VCG via Getty) ‘Technically unbelievable, break-building fantastic, safety… probably been no one better, bottle – tonnes of it. ‘My only thing, if you’re going to criticise someone, I just think he wasn’t aggressive enough. I think he would’ve won a lot more if he had just been more aggressive. 2025 World Snooker Championship draw Kyren Wilson vs Lei PeifanJak Jones vs Zhao XintongNeil Robertson vs Chris WakelinMark Allen vs Fan Zhengyi Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Ali CarterZhang Anda vs Pang JunxuSi Jiahui vs Dave GilbertMark Selby vs Ben Woollaston John Higgins vs Joe O’ConnorXiao Guodong vs Matt SeltBarry Hawkins vs Hossein VafaeiMark Williams vs Wu Yize Luca Brecel vs Ryan DayDing Junhui vs Zak SuretyShaun Murphy vs Daniel WellsJudd Trump vs Zhou Yuelong ‘But I don’t think John is built like that, I think his mindset is, ‘I just want to shut up shop’, and he can keep you out for hours and hours. ‘But sometimes I think with that ability and that talent it’s okay to give chances away when you’re that good because the opponent is just going to crumble anyway and leave you in. ‘But John didn’t really see the game like that. Whereas if I’m playing well I think, ‘I don’t care if I miss’, because I’m going to put so much pressure on them, eventually they’re just going to crack and I’ll just keep going. ‘I just think if I was in John’s corner I’d say, ‘push the boat out a little bit, put more fear into your opponent’. The thing when I got [Ray] Reardon, I needed that, and it’s the opposite with John, he should’ve had someone like Stephen Hendry going, ‘you know what John, you don’t need to play safe, you don’t need to be that good in that department, just go for a few more’. ‘I was at one end, he was at the other end, and I think I need to go that way and I think John would’ve done probably a little bit better if he’d have gone that way, but he still had an amazing career.’ For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has named John Higgins as the best ‘all-round player’ in history ahead of the World Snooker Championship.
O’Sullivan, who is aiming to win a record eighth world title this year, faces a tough test in the first round against Ali Carter.
Higgins, meanwhile, has won the World Snooker Championship four times in his career, and will play Joe O’Connor in round one.
The 49-year-old Scot heads into the tournament full of confidence having come from behind to beat Mark Selby in the Tour Championship final earlier this month.
And O’Sullivan, who beat Higgins in the World Snooker Championship final in 2001, feels The Wizard of Wishaw would have won more in his career if he played with a more ‘aggressive’ style.
‘John was probably the best all-round player that’s ever played the game, yeah, without a doubt,’ O’Sullivan told TNT Sports.
‘Technically unbelievable, break-building fantastic, safety… probably been no one better, bottle – tonnes of it.
‘My only thing, if you’re going to criticise someone, I just think he wasn’t aggressive enough. I think he would’ve won a lot more if he had just been more aggressive.
2025 World Snooker Championship draw
Kyren Wilson vs Lei Peifan
Jak Jones vs Zhao Xintong
Neil Robertson vs Chris Wakelin
Mark Allen vs Fan Zhengyi
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Ali Carter
Zhang Anda vs Pang Junxu
Si Jiahui vs Dave Gilbert
Mark Selby vs Ben Woollaston
John Higgins vs Joe O’Connor
Xiao Guodong vs Matt Selt
Barry Hawkins vs Hossein Vafaei
Mark Williams vs Wu Yize
Luca Brecel vs Ryan Day
Ding Junhui vs Zak Surety
Shaun Murphy vs Daniel Wells
Judd Trump vs Zhou Yuelong
‘But I don’t think John is built like that, I think his mindset is, ‘I just want to shut up shop’, and he can keep you out for hours and hours.
‘But sometimes I think with that ability and that talent it’s okay to give chances away when you’re that good because the opponent is just going to crumble anyway and leave you in.
‘But John didn’t really see the game like that. Whereas if I’m playing well I think, ‘I don’t care if I miss’, because I’m going to put so much pressure on them, eventually they’re just going to crack and I’ll just keep going.
‘I just think if I was in John’s corner I’d say, ‘push the boat out a little bit, put more fear into your opponent’. The thing when I got [Ray] Reardon, I needed that, and it’s the opposite with John, he should’ve had someone like Stephen Hendry going, ‘you know what John, you don’t need to play safe, you don’t need to be that good in that department, just go for a few more’.
‘I was at one end, he was at the other end, and I think I need to go that way and I think John would’ve done probably a little bit better if he’d have gone that way, but he still had an amazing career.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
