Seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan believes he is capable of winning a world title in his 50s after he thrashed Jackson Page 10-1 to reach the last 16 at the 2024 event.
O’Sullivan, 48, is already the oldest snooker world champion after winning in 2022, aged 46, and would need to lift the trophy again in 2026 or later to become the first winner aged 50 or over.
“I know the ability is there – it’s just finding the right formula,” O’Sullivan told BBC Two. “I’ve already broken the rules for snooker. I’m still going at 48, 49 and I’m seeing what’s possible now.
“Can I win a World Championship at 50, who knows? I’m probably the only player able to do that but let’s see, let’s have an experiment.”
O’Sullivan is aiming to win his eighth title and move clear of Stephen Hendry’s mark of seven Crucible successes in the 1990s, and he began Thursday’s play with an emphatic 8-1 lead over his 22-year-old opponent.
A break of 79 took O’Sullivan one frame away and he clinched victory soon after.
He will now play another Welsh player in Ryan Day, who defeated 15th seed Barry Hawkins 10-8 in Wednesday’s evening session.
Last-16 matches are best of 25 frames, so first to 13, and the first session of O’Sullivan’s match against Day will take place on Sunday (10:00 BST), with the match then resuming later that day at 19:00 before being played to a finish on Monday afternoon (14:30).
O’Sullivan’s winning margin was the joint largest at this year’s competition, matching Kyren Wilson’s 10-1 victory over Dominic Dale.
Asked if he considered himself as the best ever, O’Sullivan said: “I don’t regard myself as the greatest. I’m one of them, maybe. You’ve got Hendry, [six-time world champion Steve] Davis, and my hat’s in the ring with them. I’ve had a different career to them. They did it over a ten-year period, whereas I’ve sort of gone off track, got myself together, back off track, then got myself back together.
“I’ve had to go on longer to get what I’ve got. I was a bit all over the show at times with stuff going on off the table and that can affect how you perform on it. Hendry and Davis pretty much had everything fitted around them to be focused on snooker and I didn’t have that.”
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