‘Ronnie O’Sullivan has one ambition’… Hazel Irvine opens up about the last thing ‘The Rocket’ has to do before retiring

EXCLUSIVE: Hazel Irvine is adamant that Ronnie O’Sullivan wants to do one specific thing before he puts his cue down for the final time.

Tonight, ‘The Rocket’ will go to war with John Higgins in the second round of the World Snooker Championship.

Hazel Irvine says Ronnie O’Sullivan is chasing something massive at the World Snooker Championship

Ronnie O’Sullivan is undoubtedly one of the best to have ever graced the sport. However, upon realising his career was coming to an end, the icon set himself three goals, and in a testament to his unbelievable talent, he’s already achieved two of those.

When asked, during an exclusive interview with Sporf, whether O’Sullivan needs an eighth world title to cement his status as the greatest of all time, Hazel Irvine replied: “You’re probably better asking Stephen Hendry. I think in terms of numbers, clearly, the 23 is where it’s at, in terms of triple crowns, but I think he’s stated quite clearly this season that his only remaining ambition is the eight, eight, eight — eight UK Championships, eight Masters and eight World Championships.”

WOW: ‘Ronnie O’Sullivan told me to go back to my sad life’… Stephen Hendry on his old feud with ‘The Rocket’ and whether the icon can break his World Snooker Championship record

Hazel Irvine on what she thought when Ronnie O’Sullivan won his seventh World Snooker Championship

When O’Sullivan triumphed over Judd Trump in 2022 to equal Hendry’s World Snooker Championship record, Irvine was blown away.

But on that evening, did she think the superstar would be capable of winning another?

The broadcaster explained: “When I think back to that, it was such an overwhelming, emotional moment for all of us because Stephen’s seven had been up there to be shot at for such a long number of years. It was quite an extraordinary feat for him to achieve it, so I think everyone was thinking in terms of, ‘Ok, that’s done’. On that night, I’m not sure anybody was looking for him to better it, certainly not Stephen. But I guess if you’ve equalled someone’s record, if you’re a sportsperson as supreme as he is, it’s natural to want to surpass it, so maybe not that night, but it is certainly something that will live with me for a very long time, and everyone else who watched it, of course.”

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