Ronnie O'Sullivan reaches 60 not out – The snooker GOAT's unrivalled longevity in major sport

Ronnie O'Sullivan has won 38 ranking finals and lost 22 in a remarkable run of cue ball consistency stretching back to 1993, a year after the snooker GOAT turned professional. O'Sullivan's ranking event success spans an astonishing four decades since becoming the youngest winner of the UK Championship with a 10-6 victory over Stephen Hendry at the age of 17 years and 358 days in November 1993.

It is a record he continues to hold some 29 years on. Ad/> O'Sullivan has faced Hendry, John Higgins, Judd Trump and Neil Robertson six times each in ranking finals, Mark Selby on four occasions and Mark Williams three times.

European MastersThe joy that O'Sullivan still provides is needed now more than ever18 MINUTES AGO He holds a 4-2 winning record against Robertson and Hendry, ties Higgins 3-3 and trails Trump 2-4 on their final head-to-heads. He has yet to defeat Selby in a major ranking final, but is 2-1 up on Williams with their three finals all contested back in 2000.

In spanning the decades, he also defeated his fellow six-time world champion Steve Davis 9-8 from 8-5 behind in their solitary ranking final at the 2004 Welsh Open. To illustrate O'Sullivan's unrivalled longevity as snooker's greatest player, 21-year-old Fan Zhengyi – his opponent in Sunday's European Masters final – was born in the same year he lifted the first of his six world titles with an 18-14 win over Higgins in 2001.

Welsh Open 2022 — Latest results, scores, schedule Exclusive: ‘I've been the most successful player of all time’ – O’Sullivan on GOAT claim He won 19 ranking titles in the first half of his career between 1992 until 2007 with another 19 claimed between 2008 and 2021. His 10-9 defeat to Fan was the fourth time he has lost in a final-frame