Two members of the bet365 News group debate who the greatest player in snooker history is, Ronnie O'Sullivan or Stephen Hendry.

There's a case for both to be made, one established himself as the dominant force in the 1990s, winning an amazing 7 world titles throughout the years, whilst the other has actually proven to have a truly exceptional durability at the summit of the sport, remaining at the summit a shocking 3 decades on from capturing his very first ranking crown.

It's a topic that draws a lot intrigue and interest each and every year, and a debate that could very well rage on for ever more.

Sport isn't about talent, it has to do with winning, and nobody understood how to win quite like Stephen Hendry, composes Liam Williams ...

While there's extremely little to different Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry, O'Sullivan himself - a male it's difficult to draw out praise from - declared Hendry to be the better of the 2, while Hendry concurred, saying that he 'd expensive himself over a four-session match to accomplishment every time.

O'Sullivan's mental battles off the baize have no doubt impacted his career, and it's a testimony to his perseverance that he's maintained a 30-year profession at the top of the video game. But so much of snooker - certainly at the elite level-- is just as much about what goes on in between your ears as on the table itself, and throughout his career, O'Sullivan's character has actually been discovered desiring in a way Hendry's was not.

Memorably at the 2005 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon's sluggish play left Ronnie irritated - Ebdon obviously wasn't an easy opponent, and in fact beat Hendry in a world last - with the Rocket losing all focus and blowing a cause exit a tournament he probably should have won. It was a mental blip that Hendry simply didn't have in his locker.

While there was a method to beat O'Sullivan - however unseemly - throughout the 1990s, Hendry was nearly robotic. He confessed he didn't hang out with any other gamers socially lest it shatter his invincible, ice-man aura, and while some players struggle with having the target of being the world's best gamer on their back, Hendry enjoyed it, believing there were lots of players who were beaten before playing a shot.

Hendry didn't just have the capability to end up being the very best player on the planet, but the strength to guarantee he remained there.

From the 1989 UK Championship till the 1996 UK Championship there were 22 Triple Crown occasions; Hendry won 13 of them. Playing the very best players worldwide in a seven-year spell, Hendry would win over half of snooker's greatest competitions, including winning all 3 in two various seasons; in 11 years, Hendry won his record-setting 18 Triple Crown events, and while O'Sullivan would later on eclipse him with 23, they were accumulated over 32 years.

Between 1989 and 1993, Hendry won five consecutive Masters titles. Between 1992 and 1996, Hendry won 5 successive world titles. Steve Davis never ever managed more than three world crowns on the bounce and O'Sullivan never managed more than 2. It's a level of supremacy we're unlikely to see in the game once again.

Hendry admitted that when he 'd lastly eclipsed Steve Davis's six World Championship wins, his hunger waned, though there were other concerns, such as his cue being broken in transit and a suffering with the yips, however no one has actually ever dominated the game rather like Hendry.

When O'Sullivan has actually been at his absolute best, he's been untouchable, playing the video game in a way simple mortals could only dream of. Unfortunately for O'Sullivan, that level hasn't been as often as it might have.