'Emotionally involved' – Ronnie O'Sullivan to start snooker season as World No. 1 but when did he first top rankings?

Ronnie O'Sullivan will start the new 2022/23 snooker campaign as the sport's undisputed world no. 1 after conquering the Crucible for a record-equalling seventh time.

The 39-time ranking event winner joined old foe Stephen Hendry as the most prolific world champion in modern history with an 18-13 triumph over 2019 champion Judd Trump in a memorable 46th final at the Sheffield venue on Monday night. Ad/> His £500,000 winner's cheque secures him the coveted spot at the top of the rankings, a position he remarkably first attained two decades ago at the outset of the 2002/03 season.

World Championship‘A miraculous work of potting Pulp Fiction’ – How O’Sullivan defied time to cement GOAT legacy17 HOURS AGO At the age of 46, O'Sullivan – world champion in 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020 and 2022 – became the oldest winner of the game's biggest tournament since the Crucible first staged the televised event in 1977. “If I can get another two world titles out, that would be great, but I just like playing," he said.

«I enjoy work away from snooker and I’m not all-in with snooker now. »I became all-in this week, I was emotionally involved.

For most of the year it’s like a holiday; win or lose, it didn’t matter, but this was a different beast and I found it difficult to go into the pit again." 45-year-old Welsh icon Ray Reardon, O'Sullivan's former tactical coach, lifted his sixth world title with a 25-18 victory against Perrie Mans of South Africa in 1978 and held the sport's top spot for six years – also reclaiming the position for a season in 1982/83 – after the ranking system was first introduced in 1975. 'Class of '92' old guard O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams are the only surviving members of the top 16 in 2002