Reporter Huai Xiao.
Who is the first person in the history of **g"?"Rocket" is the answer, and he deserves it.
In the early morning of December 4, Beijing time, the final of the 2023 ** Croatia-British Championship came to an end, and "Rocket" O'Sullivan defeated Ding Junhui 10:7, and had the last laugh in this event for the eighth time.
30 years ago, in the 1993 British Championships, 17-year-old O'Sullivan defeated the "Billiards Emperor" Hendry 10:6 and won the ranking tournament championship for the first time, and he was also the youngest ranking champion in history.
In the 2023 British Championships, the 47-year-old O'Sullivan won the British Championship for the eighth time, becoming the oldest British Championship champion in history, and the day of the victory was one day away from his 48th birthday.
Arguably, this championship is the best gift he has given himself.
O'Sullivan has not won a championship since this season, and although he won the Shanghai Masters and won a lot of prize money, it was an invitational tournament.
But after this victory, O'Sullivan ended the more than one-year ranking championship drought since the World Championships in May 2022, which is also his second championship this season after two and a half months after the Shanghai Masters.
What's more, this is the 40th title he has won in his 62nd ranking tournament final, and two statistics (number of ranking tournament finals and ranking tournament wins) have set new records. It was also his 102nd British Championship victory, which is also the highest in history.
When it comes to O'Sullivan, people can't help but think of it - when Hendry suppressed the world's top gram players to the point of immobility, it was the young O'Sullivan who rose rapidly, easily defeated the emperor in his heyday, and brought the ** gram into the era of "75 Three Heroes" (O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Mark Williams).
Now, as far as the three of them are concerned, compared with Higgins's British Championship triple crown and Williams' British Championship double crown, O'Sullivan is undoubtedly the one with the most outstanding results. And in terms of the number of ranking tournament champions, O'Sullivan is also far ahead.
With 40 championships in 30 years, O'Sullivan's ranking championship has maintained an average of 1 per year3 pcs. As the world's No. 1 gram player, for now, O'Sullivan's status is difficult to be surpassed by others.
For the Gram movement, O'Sullivan has taken his achievements to a higher level, he has set a record of half of the world's Grams, and he is still fighting and has not stopped.
Interestingly, with the end of the British Championships, the entry list and first-round signing of the Wembley Masters, another major event of the three major tournaments, have also been released, and O'Sullivan will fight Ding Junhui again. Next, it is worth looking forward to whether the "rocket" can continue to stage an ageless legend.
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