Ronnie O’Sullivan has found a formula for success that can be a springboard to more snooker glory

Some things never change, some things stay the same. Ronnie O’Sullivan is back on the summit of snooker with a performance that was so dominant, it suggests he has his sights trained on taking the World Championship record outright. Ad/> His seventh win, secured with a ruthless demolition of Judd Trump, took him level with Stephen Hendry — and left a clear feeling there is more in the tank at the age of 46.

World Championship'Virtually impossible' – O'Sullivan reveals key reason behind world title glory3 HOURS AGO The Crucible is a slog, a survival of the fittest. It is rare for a player to dominate from start to finish. But aside from the opening three frames in his first-round match against David Gilbert, and a session on Monday when Trump threatened to make a game of the final, O’Sullivan was in complete control.

Total dominance rarely seen on the highest stage. Alan McManus said in the Eurosport studio that he’d got the feeling months earlier that O’Sullivan was working towards one goal: World Championship victory. Looking at his season, McManus’ theory stands up to scrutiny.

He returned to the top of the world rankings on the back of one tournament win: the World Grand Prix in December. But that does not tell the whole story, as he reached the final of the European Masters, semi-finals of the Tour Championship, English Open and Scottish Open, and quarter-finals of the UK Championship and the Masters. His performances in those events offered up moments of magic without truly catching fire — match practice in competitive environments with the aim of sharpening the tools for the big day.