The 2025 World Championship qualifying rounds are still underway and for the players involved that’s the most important thing. For the media however, and probably for many fans as well, the big talking point still is “Will Ronnie play?” and it will probably stay this way until his decision is known.
So, hereafter we have two other greats of the game, John Higgins and Steve Davis, sharing their thoughts about the situation.
John Higgins spoke to Nick Metcalfe ahead of the World Championship
‘I’d rather Ronnie O’Sullivan doesn’t turn up’ says John Higgins ahead of World Championship
By Nick Metcalfe
John Higgins believes Ronnie O’Sullivan will play at the World Championship, but admits that he’d rather see the seven-time Crucible winner withdraw.
O’Sullivan, who has been out of competitive action for more than three months, has suggested he’ll decide at the last minute whether he’ll be in Sheffield.
The Essex man has indicated he’ll likely make the call on Thursday or Friday, ahead of the tournament starting on Saturday.
Higgins, four times a world champion, seems in no doubt that O’Sullivan will compete in the sport’s biggest event.
And he also thinks O’Sullivan is very capable of repeating his trick of 2013, when he won the World Championship having taken nearly the whole of the season off.
Ronnie O’Sullivan at the 2013 World Championship
“I think he will be there, I’ve got a feeling,” Higgins told Sporting Life.
“I think he’ll be holding on to try and (have) the same thoughts he had when he took the year out and he came back and won it.
“I think he’ll be trying to take the positives. Although he’s not had a year out, he’s obviously had a good chunk of the season out. I’m sure he’ll be there, yeah.
“He can win it because he’s Ronnie. I would never ever rule that man out from winning anything, not at all.
“If he plays, he’s going to be a massive danger to everyone, without a doubt.“
Higgins has himself enjoyed a golden period just weeks before his 50th birthday. He won his first ranking tournament in four years with success at the World Open in Yushan last month.
And he followed that up with a glorious Tour Championship triumph in Manchester, coming from 8-5 behind to beat Mark Selby 10-8 in the final.
John Higgins with a clearance for the ages at the Crucible 12 months ago
Now comes the most demanding test of all, the Crucible marathon, which Higgins last won in 2011.
The Scot is candid enough just days ahead of the tournament to say he’d rather O’Sullivan was absent, as that would mean one major rival – and perhaps the most threatening of all – that he won’t have to worry about.
“I’ve got to be brutally honest, I’d rather Ronnie doesn’t turn up from a selfish point of view, because you know how strong a player he can be,” Higgins said.
“That’s me being brutally honest. I think you’d be lying if you said you want him there, I think you’d be a bit of a liar.
“I’m not trying to be disrespectful. I’ve got enough players to be worried about without adding Ronnie to the list.”
O’Sullivan, 49, was last in action in the Championship League in January. He pulled out of the Masters just a few days before the tournament on medical grounds and has also withdrawn from a number of events since then.
Although O’Sullivan clearly remains the sport’s most famous figure and its main box office attraction, Higgins says he hasn’t really noticed his absence during recent tournaments.
Ronnie O’Sullivan when winning his seventh world title in 2022
“I’ll be honest, I’ve not actually noticed he’s (not been there) at these last events,” Higgins added. “The Grand Prix, the Players and the Tour Championship, obviously he wasn’t in them. I’ve not really missed him.
“I’m maybe different from the paying public. I don’t know, it’s a funny one. The best people to be asking about it is the paying public and the viewing public back at home.
“It’s as if we’ll have to get used to him not being there maybe sooner rather than later, with the noises he’s making, where he might not be playing much in the next couple of years and might just be doing his exhibitions and things.
“I think, if you’re asking a fellow player, all we’re interested in basically is ourselves and to get yourself ready, you’re not caring about the opposition.”
If O’Sullivan does withdraw, it will be the first time he’s missed the tournament in his professional career. He last won the event in 2022, when he equalled Stephen Hendry’s record in the modern era of seven Crucible triumphs.
The World Championship begins on Saturday morning, with Kyren Wilson trying to defend the title he won for the first time 12 months ago.
Steve Davis rates ‘superhuman’ Ronnie O’Sullivan’s World Snooker Championship chances
by Phil Haigh
Published April 14, 2025 12:02pm Updated April 14, 2025 12:24pm
Ronnie O’Sullivan is yet to confirm his Crucible attendance (Picture: Getty Images)
Steve Davis would love to see Ronnie O’Sullivan win the World Snooker Championship this year but cannot see it happening and would not blame the Rocket if he retired.
The snooker world awaits O’Sullivan’s decision on whether he will play at the Crucible this month or not, with an announcement yet to be made.
The seven-time champion has barely played in 2025 and has said he will not confirm whether he will be in Sheffield until shortly before the event begins on Saturday.
The 49-year-old has played this season, competing pretty regularly in the first half of the campaign, but has not been in action since January at all.
O’Sullivan took the whole of the 2012/13 season off before playing and winning the 2013 World Championship, so few would rule out his chances if he does turn up at the Crucible, but Davis would be surprised if he got his hands on the trophy.
‘I don’t think he can at 49,’ Davis told Metro. ‘It was a jaw-dropping thing when he did that last time, having a whole season off and winning it. That was astonishing, This would be even more astonishing.
‘I don’t think he’s going to win the World Championship this year, but I’d love it if he did.
O’Sullivan last played at the Championship League in January (Picture: Getty Images)
‘He is still the person that we think can fly, he’s the genius and we’re all believers to some degree. We know he’s superhuman when he’s on a snooker table.
‘But we still don’t know if he’s going to play. Even though it’s the World Championship, the most exciting event of the season, if he’s not feeling it, he’s not feeling it. He could pull out the day before the match if he’s not feeling right.
‘We’re all hoping he plays in it because it’s his office to some degree and it would be sad to see him not there. And it will be a sad day when he retires as well because of how much enjoyment he’s given to so many people and how much astonishing snooker he’s played.’
The Rocket remains one of the favourites to win the world title this year despite his lack of competition and advancing years, but six-time champ Davis feels his game is not where it needs to be to earn more Crucible glory.
‘The problem for him is, when he gave up the ground last time round he was still cutting edge,’ he said. ‘It’s not so clear cut that he’s cutting edge by any stretch, he’s not ahead of the game anymore, unless he’s on absolute top form.
Steve Davis feels the competition has caught up with O’Sullivan (Picture: Getty Images)
‘He can’t just switch the switch on and blow his opponents away anymore. He needs a bit of help, so if he were to win it he’d players to not play brilliantly against him and he needs to be on top form. It’s a marathon event and the older you are it takes its toll more and more.’
If O’Sullivan could pull off an incredible victory then it would take him clear on a record eight world titles, ahead of Stephen Hendry, which Davis wouldn’t mind seeing.
‘I’d love it if he won, not just that we’d want to see the look on Stephen Hendry’s face,’ Davis joked. ‘It is going to be harder because he is going to have to dig deeper than he did that time before.’
The 67-year-old was the sport’s greatest star in the 1980s and was considered the GOAT before Hendry took the mantle and then O’Sullivan replaced the Scot, in the opinions of most snooker fans.
Davis feels the Rocket handles the pressure of being the sport’s shining light impressively, but it will eventually wear him out and would understand it if O’Sullivan wants to hang up his cue for good.
‘I think he copes with it very well but I think it still takes its toll, taking the responsibility, and you feel like the weight is on your shoulders a little bit more,’ said the Nugget.
‘I think he does it very well but it is understandable if he decides to jack it all in. Anybody that was disappointed in him should have a reality check because of how much he’s given to the game. The enjoyment he’s given has been astonishing.
‘It’s down to him. If he can still build up the enthusiasm to enjoy the game of snooker and compete and when his mind’s right for it then that’s fantastic. But if he decides he’s had enough and can’t do it anymore. We’d all go, “woah, what a fantastic career, every credit for how long he’s been at the top of the game.”
‘Somewhere down the line you can learn to not like the game you first loved. It’s human nature.’
John’s honesty may not be everybody’s cup of tea but I do appreciate it. Of course the other players don’t want him there, why would they? Steve Davis, of course, isn’t playing anymore, he looks at it from the perspective of a media person who is a fan of the sport as well.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 