Ronnie O'Sullivan pays tribute to Crucible great after Luca Brecel emulates world snooker title feat – 'A proper player'

Ronnie O'Sullivan idolised fellow icons Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry as a kid during the 1980s, but the snooker GOAT believes Joe Johnson produced arguably the most magical performance of the sport's modern era. Speaking during a run of interviews to promote his new autobiography Unbreakable, O'Sullivan revealed his admiration for the unheralded 150-1 outsider, who completed a stunning 18-12 victory over Davis in the 1986 World Championship final in Sheffield. Ad It was remarkably the stylish Bradford player's only ranking triumph in a 25-year professional career, but Johnson showed his class by returning to the final a year later when Davis held him off for an 18-14 win in the 1987 title match to claim the fourth off his six Crucible trophies.

Snooker'Love of the game still there' – Fu reveals targets after getting new two-year tour cardYESTERDAY AT 06:07 O'Sullivan cites the 1986 world final as his favourite from the storied Crucible archives with his fellow Eurosport analyst Johnson carrying off the trophy in a baize of glory built on some formidable long potting and equally protruding pink, red and white leather footwear. Which apparently earned him the well-heeled nickname 'The Shoe'. «At the time, Davis was the king, but since YouTube has come out I've watched a lot of old videos,» O'Sullivan said on BBC Radio 2.

«I didn't realise how good a player he was. He didn't win anything else apart from the World Championship, but then made the final the next year. »I said to him: 'Joe, you were a proper player'.

And he went: 'really?'. I said 'yeah'. Because I call people proper snooker players or they're not.