Stephen Hendry has called Ronnie O’Sullivan the greatest snooker player of all-time, but that doesn’t mean he is his favourite to watch.
That is no criticism of the Rocket, with the Scot putting his fellow seven-time world champion second in his top five favourite players of all-time to watch.
Also in that top five are a great rival of Hendry in his pomp, the current world number one and a couple of players who are yet to turn their flamboyant styles into much silverware.
Talking through his favourite players to watch on WST’s Snooker Club podcast, the legendary Whirlwind was first to be mentioned.
‘Number five is Jimmy [White]. Not Jimmy now, but Jimmy in his prime,’ said Hendry.
‘Jimmy was my hero when I started playing. I used to record videos of him and try to copy some of the shots he was playing, some of the shots he used to play was basically what got me to fall in love with snooker, really. He was my hero.’
Next in line comes the 2019 world champion, the reigning world number one and the 30-time ranking event winner, Judd Trump.
‘Number four I’m going to go Judd Trump,’ said Hendry. ‘Judd Trump is incredible to watch, he plays shots that no one else can play.
‘The power, the naughty snooker at the end of frames and the imagination to think up these shots. What a break-builder, 107 centuries in a season!’
The 56-year-old then went for Jack Lisowski, a player still searching for his first ranking title, but is undoubtedly a delight to watch at the table.
Hendry explained: ‘Number three I’m going to go Jack Lisowski. What a beautiful snooker player, like the mirror image of Ronnie, he’s left-handed, Ronnie’s right-handed. Very similar cue actions.
‘I just love watching him play, what a talent, he’s just incredible. Just waiting for the victories.’
Then came the Rocket, with Hendry saying: ‘Number two, this could be controversial, Ronnie O’Sullivan.
‘If Ronnie is in a tournament and I get my rota for commentating, I always hope to be on his matches.
‘He’s the greatest player of all-time. Break-building, cue ball control, if you don’t like watching that then you don’t like watching snooker. When he’s on he plays the game perfectly, basically.’
At number one, ahead of the likes of O’Sullivan and Trump, is the current world number 46, Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
Hendry knows from personal experience how good the 40-year-old is, having played him in 2021 and watched him knock in breaks of 136, 129, 107, 106, 100, 59, and 52 in a 6-1 loss.
‘Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is my favourite player to watch,’ said Hendry. ‘Unbelievable talent.
‘He beat me 6-1 once in the UK Championship qualifiers, he had five centuries and I don’t think any of them took more than seven or eight minutes. The cue ball was on a string, it was absolute perfection.’
The man known as F1 for his speed around the table has just one ranking title to his name, the 2019 Snooker Shoot Out and has been to just one ranking semi in the last five seasons, which Hendry finds hard to believe.
‘How he’s where he’s ranked in the world…talent isn’t enough on its own to be successful and he proves it because he’s got bucket loads of talent,’ he said.
‘I love watching him play. It’s all-out attack, he refuses nothing. Incredible talent, incredible player, incredible speed.’