Top 10 moments of 2022/23 snooker season: No. 5 – Ronnie O'Sullivan invokes spirit of '97 with Rocket-fuelled century

After the conclusion of another extraordinary snooker season, we pick 10 memorable moments from the 2022/23 campaign as captured by the Eurosport cameras. You can vote for your personal favourite when we reveal our final list of contenders later this month. No.

5 – O'Sullivan sprints to astonishing century Ad For a sportsman who is inspired by the staying power of Eliud Kipchoge – Kenya's remarkable men's marathon word-record holder – Ronnie O’Sullivan is more like Kipchoge’s lightning-fast compatriot Ferdinand Omanyala on the old green baize. Welsh OpenTop 10 moments of 2022/23: No. 6 – The Milkman delivers in biggest match of his life19/06/2023 AT 12:41 While he enjoys clocking up the miles on the road in his spare time, snooker sprints remain all the rage for Rocket Ronnie.

His trademark “blink and you’ll miss him” introduction to salivating snooker goers around the globe over the past four decades is never truer than when he is in the mood among the balls. The world No. 1 ended the latest season – his 31st as a professional at the summit of the sport – as the fastest thing on two legs with an astonishing average shot time of 17.68 seconds quicker than Thai speed merchant Thepchaiya Un‑Nooh’s 17.77.

Much of his ability to win frames at breakneck speed comes with his intuition to control the white ball with as much expertise as working a yoyo to perfection. Six-time world champion Steve Davis was once nicknamed the 'Master Cueman' in the 1980s, but that moniker now belongs firmly in the gift of his fellow Essex professional. If you don’t need to walk very far to the next shot, you don’t need to fret over potting the next ball, and so the cue ball chain reaction triggers phenomenal reactions.