During the formative years of snooker, Davis’ 15 world titles put him on a pedestal for all players to follow in his footsteps. Despite O’Sullivan’s recognition as the sport’s greatest, even the Rocket does not consider himself as the best ever, instead naming two of his modern rivals.
“I don’t regard myself as the greatest,” O’Sullivan told the BBC. “I’m one of them, maybe. You’ve got Hendry, (Steve) Davis, and my hat’s in the ring with them. I’ve had a different career to them.
“They did it over a 10-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.”
