Ronnie O'Sullivan 'back to his best' ahead of record eighth World Snooker Championship title tilt, says Jimmy White

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TNT Sports snooker expert Jimmy 'Whirlwind' White believes Ronnie O'Sullivan is "back to his best" and has come back to the World Championship stronger after last year's semi-final exit.

White says O'Sullivan looks 'back to his best' ahead of quest for record eighth title

Video credit: TNT Sports

The Rocket - whose seven world titles stands as a joint-record alongside Stephen Hendry - has once again taken on a vastly reduced schedule this season. But when he has taken to the baize, the flashes of vintage O'Sullivan were hard to ignore.

The 50-year-old, making his 34th consecutive World Championship appearance, enjoyed an excellent run to the World Open final last month, during which he made yet more snooker history with the highest break ever made, a 153 against Ryan Day.

Batting away the likes of Shaun Murphy and prodigious talent Wu Yize in Yushan, O'Sullivan eventually fell 10-7 to an inspired Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the final, but it all ultimately made for positive preparations ahead of his return to the Crucible.

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White has been encouraged by what he has seen from the 23-time Triple Crown winner.

"He looks absolutely fabulous," White said on TNT Sports' coverage of the World Snooker Championship.

"He had that 153 but in a couple of other events he’s played really well. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh at 7-7 made three in one visit, so Ronnie didn’t do anything wrong. Thepchaiya was just brilliant.

"But Ronnie, to me, looks back to his best. His touch and feel is there. Make no mistake, he wasn’t going to go away after last year’s defeat against [Zhao] Xintong [in the semi-finals], he was going to come back a better player."

O'Sullivan showed in Sheffield 12 months ago that he does not necessarily need to play a lot of snooker in order to grow into a tournament. He saw off Ali Carter and Pang Junxu with relative ease before beating Si Jiahui 13-9 in the quarter-finals.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

Zhao would eventually end O'Sullivan's run, and indeed go on to become the first player from China to lift the title when he beat Mark Williams 18-12 in the final.

O'Sullivan makes his highly-anticipated return against He Guoqiang, with their first-round tie to be played across Tuesday and Wednesday - live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

He delighted fans in the week leading up to the 2026 World Championship at iconic snooker venue Goffs in Country Kildare, where he won the inaugural John Virgo Trophy with victories over Hendry and John Higgins.

But O'Sullivan - hunting his first world title since 2022 - has not endeared himself to one particular rival on his return to Sheffield, as he was called out by Shaun Murphy for missing Friday's official media day alongside Judd Trump.