Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams are ‘weird people’ says snooker legend who ‘can’t understand them’
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN and Mark Williams are “weird people”, according Steve Davis.
The six-time world champion described the pair as “exceptional” but believes they have been able to stay at the top of the sport for so long because they are enigmas.
O’Sullivan, 48, and Williams, 49, are both part of the Class of 92 along with John Higgins.
But while Higgins has struggled for form this season, O’Sullivan has enjoyed his most lucrative season to date and won five titles including The Masters and the UK Open, while Williams has won two titles.
Asked which of the trio could fall away first, Davis told Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips: “The reason that it could be John out of the three of them is that he’s the most normal human being.
“Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams are really exceptional, weird people. John is less weird and [has] more of a normal competitor’s style.
“The other two are enigmas. You can’t understand Ronnie O’Sullivan and you can’t understand Mark Williams. How is he still winning? It’s stupid.
“Who knows? It’s maybe John, but not because of ability. Just the fact he’s more normal.”
O’Sullivan faces qualifier Jackson Page on Wednesday in the first round of the World Snooker Championship, but despite dominating the sport for two weeks he claims he does not know much about snooker.
He said: “I’ve been trying to think how I want the next five to ten years to be. I’ve been working with a coach and we’ve done a lot of testing in some ways and I’ve realised I don’t know much about snooker.
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“I thought I did. I know how to get a ball in a hole, and I know how to compete and win it, and I’ve got an idea of what needs to happen. I know I have to get this bit of wood and this ball and if I do this, that should happen.
“But I haven’t been that efficient in the last few years and I’ve just tried to accept that I needed a bit of help, so I’ve gone back to a coach that worked with my old coach, and I’m going back through the stuff that worked for me.”