Hendry or O'Sullivan - who is the greatest?

Brian Marwood

Brian Marwood

Well-known member
As much as I love watching O'Sullivan I do feel that Hendry was the better snooker player overall. Hendry simply had much more formidable opponents to overcome , in my very humble opinion, so his record stacks up better.
 
O’Sullivan and it’s not even a real debate

And I had to laugh at your statement about Hendrie facing more formidable players, that’s just outright silly talk
 
All just opinions, but I think if O'Sullivan at his best plays Hendry at his best - He wins 6 times out of 10.

O'Sullivan doesn't really have any weaknesses in his game - and the game itself (like most sports) is evolving / players are getting better and better as time goes on.

Hendry is without a doubt #2 though, with Steve Davis #3 - I think anyone else is miles behind.

I'm going to see Hendry vs Davis at the town hall next month.
 
If each at their best, O'Sullivan by a good distance.

However he is also the more likely to be off his game, or disinterested, or distracted or simply in a bad mood. I can't ever recall Hendry losing his cool or being anything less than laser-focused.

Therefore it would probably be a lot closer than many people might think.
 
Hendry dominated the game like O’Sullivan never has, but by his own admission his game dropped away quite a bit, whereas O’Sullivan continues to be brilliant at 48.

I remember the two playing each other at Sheffield in a Semi Final. Not sure of the year, but it was a tournament where O’Sullivan was at his most focused. He battered Hendry something 18 - 4. Although that was a Hendry not quite at his best, he was still an excellent player.
 
Brian Marwood said:
It should be a debate because Hendry clearly had to beat much better players. Even O'Sullivan has criticised the quality of players below him.
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O’Sullivan has had Higgins and Williams as peers. Higgins has won 4 World Titles, so that shows his class. Williams has 3 World Titles. Mark Selby is the only player to beat O’Sullivan in a crucible final. He also has a few titles, so it’s not fair to say the quality was better against Hendry.
 
Nero said:
O’Sullivan has had Higgins and Williams as peers. Higgins has won 4 World Titles, so that shows his class. Williams has 3 World Titles. Mark Selby is the only player to beat O’Sullivan in a crucible final. He also has a few titles, so it’s not fair to say the quality was better against Hendry.
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I would also argue that snooker is stronger in the O'Sullivan era with more players able to beat each other on a given day. I would state that he is the best player to ever play the game but his demons let him down and prevented him from winning more tournaments than he should.

I am not a lover of O'Sullivan and always feel he is the pantomime villain of snooker.
 
Brian Marwood said:
It should be a debate because Hendry clearly had to beat much better players. Even O'Sullivan has criticised the quality of players below him.
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Name these players then that hendrie had to contend with that are in your own head superior to the players of today, the likes of John Higggins, Williams, Trump, Selby, Robertson and Murphy, all career triple crown winners there BTW
 
Interesting stats below. Players who have achieved over 500 and above century breaks in major competitions
Apart from Hendry, they are mainly the newer stock of players. Steve Davis only managed 355.

Threshold Player Date threshold passed
1,200 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 22 April 2023
950 John Higgins (SCO) 11 Sep 2023
900 Judd Trump (ENG) 29 November 2023]
Neil Robertson (AUS) 1 September 2023
750 Stephen Hendry (SCO) [citation needed]
Mark Selby (ENG) January 2023
600 Ding Junhui (CHN) 13 November 2022
Shaun Murphy (ENG) 16 February 2023
Mark Williams (WAL) 21 September 2023
500 Stuart Bingham (ENG) 28 April 2021
Mark Allen (NIR) 12 August 2021
Marco Fu (HKG) 12 December 2019
Stephen Maguire (SCO) 9 November 2023
 
I think the best is yet to come. Just wait until someone gets a better maximum than 147 then we can start talking about that player as the best ever.
 
BobendBert said:
I think the best is yet to come. Just wait until someone gets a better maximum than 147 then we can start talking about that player as the best ever.
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Already been done :)

www.guinnessworldrecords.com

Highest break in snooker

The Guinness World Records Official site with ultimate record-breaking facts & achievements. Do you want to set a world record? Are you Officially Amazing?
www.guinnessworldrecords.com www.guinnessworldrecords.com

And more recent one filmed here:

 
Uncle_Marbles said:
Interesting stats below. Players who have achieved over 500 and above century breaks in major competitions
Apart from Hendry, they are mainly the newer stock of players. Steve Davis only managed 355.

Threshold Player Date threshold passed
1,200 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 22 April 2023
950 John Higgins (SCO) 11 Sep 2023
900 Judd Trump (ENG) 29 November 2023]
Neil Robertson (AUS) 1 September 2023
750 Stephen Hendry (SCO) [citation needed]
Mark Selby (ENG) January 2023
600 Ding Junhui (CHN) 13 November 2022
Shaun Murphy (ENG) 16 February 2023
Mark Williams (WAL) 21 September 2023
500 Stuart Bingham (ENG) 28 April 2021
Mark Allen (NIR) 12 August 2021
Marco Fu (HKG) 12 December 2019
Stephen Maguire (SCO) 9 November 2023
Click to expand...

They have far, far more tournaments these days to be fair
 
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