Mark Williams makes bold Ronnie O'Sullivan claim after watching Tour Championship final
Three-time world champion Mark Williams made a bold claim about Ronnie O'Sullivan after the Tour Championship final between Zhao Xintong and Judd Trump.
Zhao, the reigning world champion, secured a dominant 10-3 victory over the world number one in Manchester.
In the process, the Chinese star pocketed £150,000 in prize money and will head into this month's World Championship in top form.
The 29-year-old became China's long-awaited maiden world champion in 2025, defeating Williams in the final, and his performances this season indicate he could go on to dominate snooker for many years to come.
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He is remarkably the only player to win multiple ranking title events this year, with three to his name.
And after watching the final, Williams took to Twitter to claim that Zhao is, in his opinion, now a better player to watch than seven-time world champion O'Sullivan.
In trademark Williams style on social media, his initial post was mostly undecipherable, with 'The Welsh Potting Machine' then responding to a fan who had claimed Zhao wasn't better overall than O'Sullivan.
"I never said that, I said he's better to watch now than Ronnie," he clarified.
O'Sullivan and Zhao - who is top seed as reigning champion - will be among the leading seeds for what promises to be one of the most open World Championships in history at the Crucible.
Thirteen out of the top 16 players, minus O'Sullivan, Ding Junhui and Si Jiahui, have all won at least one title during the 2025/26 season.
O'Sullivan and Zhao are both in the top half of the draw, and could therefore meet in the semi-finals of the World Championship.
But John Higgins, Shaun Murphy and world number three Neil Robertson are also in the same half, with Higgins versus O'Sullivan a potential blockbuster second-round tie at the Crucible.
Williams, meanwhile, is in the bottom half of the draw alongside Trump, Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson and Barry Hawkins among others.
Qualifying for the World Championship got underway on Monday, with four rounds set to be played to decide the final 16 entrants into this year's main draw.
World Championship draw as it stands
- Zhao Xintong (1) vs TBC
- Ding Junhui (16) vs TBC
- Xiao Guodong (9) vs TBC
- Shaun Murphy (8) vs TBC
- John Higgins (5) vs TBC
- Ronnie O'Sullivan (12) vs TBC
- Chris Wakelin (13) vs TBC
- Neil Robertson (4) vs TBC
- Kyren Wilson (3) vs TBC
- Mark Allen (14) vs TBC
- Barry Hawkins (11) vs TBC
- Mark Williams (6) vs TBC
- Mark Selby (7) vs TBC
- Wu Yize (10) vs TBC
- Si Jiahui (15) vs TBC
- Judd Trump (2) vs TBC
Topics:Â Snooker, World Snooker Championship, Ronnie OSullivan
Ryan Smart