Ronnie O'Sullivan says World Seniors snooker star 'should still be on tour' despite retirement

Ronnie O'Sullivan made a telling comment about one of the players he defeated to win snooker's World Seniors Championship at the Crucible.

O'Sullivan collected his first World Seniors title, adding to the seven World Snooker Championship wins that make him the showpiece's joint-record winner along with Stephen Hendry.

'The Rocket' was knocked out of the Worlds last month in an epic second round match against John Higgins but was back at the Crucible Theatre for a crack at the Seniors.

He made his World Seniors debut in this year's tournament and defeated Ken Doherty, Peter Lines and Robert Milkins to book his place in the final.

His opponent, Joe Perry, was a regular in the studio and the commentary box at both tournaments after retiring from the World Snooker Tour following the World Snooker Championship last year.

O'Sullivan beat 'The Gentleman' 10-4 in the World Seniors final and hailed his opponent after the match.

"I've had to really dig deep [in the tournament] and I didn't expect I would have to," O'Sullivan told master of ceremonies Rob Walker at the Crucible after Sunday's final.

"It's been a great week. Honestly, Joe, if he wanted to still play on the tour he could definitely still compete...but he's enjoying his career doing punditry and everyone loves watching him do what he does there as well."

"This has been a tough tournament. It's been a great week" ❤️

Ronnie O'Sullivan reacts after winning the World Seniors Championship! 🏆

Watch | Stream on 5: https://t.co/ABW52824Mu pic.twitter.com/rbo7d2QfRw

— Channel 5 Sport (@Channel5Sport) May 10, 2026

O'Sullivan won 18 of his 20 professional matches against Perry, losing only in the last 16 of the 2008 UK Championships and once in the Premier League in the same year.

"He's been a great servant to the sport so it's great that the BBC have really taken him under their wing and it's great for a player like Joe, who's been a huge ambassador for the game, to have a career after their playing career," said O'Sullivan, who later posted on social media to describe Perry as 'a class act'.

The Gentleman of the Baize

Perry has become a familiar face and voice for regular viewers of televised snooker and continues to be an insightful and passionate advocate for the sport.

The Wisbech-born former professional played in six ranking event finals, defeating Judd Trump to win the Welsh Open in 2022 and winning the Players Tour Championship Finals by beating the legendary Mark Williams in 2015.

"I'll continue to play snooker because I'm going to be in the World Seniors, but my time as a professional snooker player is up at the end of this tournament," Perry said before the 2025 World Snooker Championship.

"It's not a rash decision, I've thought about it for the past 12-18 months and I decided midway through this season that enough was enough."