Ronnie O’Sullivan can show Luke Littler how it’s done and steal the darts star’s limelight
Ronnie O’Sullivan is bidding to go one step further than Luke Littler after the darts star’s incredible World Championship run.
At Alexandra Palace on Tuesday, Luke Littler was one match away from making sporting history, but he fell short as Luke Humphries’ 7-4 victory in the World Darts Championship final ended the 16-year-old’s unprecedented run. The renowned location will next host the Masters snooker event, in which Ronnie O’Sullivan will attempt to take advantage of his background and win the trophy.
The Rocket, who has felt comfortable on the Ally Pally stage, is the player with the most Masters titles won. Having lost to Joe Perry in 2017, he hasn’t won the tournament since. However, with Littler and darts taking center stage this year, he should be even more motivated.
On Monday afternoon, O’Sullivan will begin his campaign against Ding Junhui, whom he faced in the last UK Championship final and against whom the 48-year-old took home yet another trophy. Thirty years after he first experienced success in York at the age of seventeen, that was the Rocket’s eighth and record-breaking victory.
Similar to Littler, O’Sullivan burst onto the snooker scene, and the teenager looked up to him as he made his way through his newfound success. As he looks to further solidify himself as snooker’s greatest ever in Sunday’s final, he may help Littler by demonstrating to him how to handle pressure with his amazing mentality and expertise.
He won’t have an easy time, though, as players qualify for the event based on their world ranking rankings, making it a member of the Triple Crown along with the UK Championship and the World Championship.
After defeating Mark Williams 10-8 in the previous year’s championship match, Judd Trump will be attempting to retain his title. On Sunday, world champion Luca Brecel will start his campaign with a challenging match against Jack Lisowski.
Although Littler’s reward for second place was £50,000 less than that of the winner, an overmatched field will know that O’Sullivan is the one to beat. Despite losing out on a Christmas triumph in Shanghai, he will be full of confidence because he is on the other side of the draw from Trump.
The Rocket usually makes an appearance at the esteemed competitions held in Britain, particularly because he has an opportunity to further inscribe his name in sports history at a time when darts has gained more attention due to a 16-year-old who defeated all odds at Ally Pally.
Littler was born on the day that O’Sullivan defeated Ding to win the 2007 Masters. This year, the Rocket takes on the same opponent in a bid to surpass the darts sensation.
