Dennis Taylor gives massive take on whether Ronnie O’Sullivan will win the World Snooker Championship

EXCLUSIVE: Dennis Taylor gave a fascinating insight into whether Ronnie O’Sullivan will emerge victorious at the 2026 World Snooker Championship.

‘The Rocket’ has his sights set on securing a record-breaking eighth title.

Dennis Taylor doesn’t think Ronnie O’Sullivan will win the World Snooker Championship

Having scaled the snooker mountain back in 1985, 18-17, in one of the most thrilling games of all time, against Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor undeniably knows a thing or two about what it takes to make history.

However, while he believes Ronnie O’Sullivan is capable of claiming another piece of silverware for his trophy cabinet, the popular commentator is confident he knows who’s going to come out on top. And it isn’t the Englishman.

In an exclusive interview with Sporf, the 77-year-old enthused: “Ronnie is the greatest of all time. The only record he hasn’t beaten, is Stephen Hendry’s seven world titles. He could do it this year, but I have a sneaky feeling the crucible curse will go this year, and Zhao Xintong will defend his title.”

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Dennis Taylor made outrageous consecutive break at the Canadian Open

While the world knows Taylor today for being one of the very best to have ever picked up a cue, at one point, he was just a prospect with a dream.

Back in 1974, with determination to reach his goals, ‘The Menace’, flew out to play in the Canadian Open, where he produced something very special during an exhibition against the 11x Montreal champion.

Taylor laughed: “That got me into Pot Black. I got to the final that year, I beat Alex Higgins in the semi-final, I think he was world number one, maybe at the time. In the exhibition, I scored 349 without missing. I cleared up with a century break, then I had to break off, I fluked a red, and cleared the table with 134. He broke off, and I made another century, so it totalled 349 without missing. I had two children and £200 in the bank. I paid my way to go to Canada. I got invited to Pot Black in 1975, and then I started climbing up the world rankings. That was the big turning point in my career.”

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