Ronnie O’Sullivan's review of 2023-24 snooker season – 'I'm not sure that'll ever be done again'
By Nancy Gillen
Updated 04/05/2024 at 13:23 GMT+1
Gary Wilson's astonishing 147 against John Higgins in the Welsh Open semi-final has been named as the best moment of the 2023-24 snooker season. Ronnie O'Sullivan told Eurosport that it was 'pretty impressive stuff'. O'Sullivan labelled Shaun Murphy's 147 at the Snooker Shoot Out as the season's best 147 and he did not think it would 'ever be done again'.
'I'm not sure that'll ever be done again' - O'Sullivan's review of the 2023-24 snooker season
Video credit: TNT Sports
Ronnie O’Sullivan has named Gary Wilson’s 147 against John Higgins in the Welsh Open semi-final as his favourite moment of the 2023-24 snooker season.
Wilson hit the fifth 147 of his career and the 199th in the history of professional snooker during the second frame against Higgins, having nearly made the maximum in the opening frame.
He subsequently roared into a 5-1 lead but was soon pegged back by Higgins. Wilson eventually triumphed 6-4 to reach the final, beating Martin O’Donnell to win his second ranking title of the season.
“What Gary Wilson did in Llandudno against John Higgins,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport, when asked about the most magical moment of the season.
“Nearly making a 147, then getting the 147, then going 5-1 up, then Higgins coming back in, then him [Wilson] winning, and then him winning the final, being his second ranking.
“That match against Higgins stood out for me. I thought, this is pretty impressive stuff.”
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Watch Wilson’s maximum 147 break against Higgins in Welsh Open semi-final
Video credit: TNT Sports
O’Sullivan also revisited snooker's shortest format when asked what the best 147 of the year had been.
“I'd definitely have to say that shootout [by Shaun Murphy] has got to be up there, because to do it with that shot clock, one frame, all the noise of the crowd, that must have been some feat to do that,” he explained.
“I reckon that's definitely up there. I'm not sure that'll ever be done again.”
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'Phenomenal achievement' - Murphy makes first maximum 147 break at Shoot Out
Video credit: TNT Sports
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O’Sullivan mentioned Judd Trump twice in his season review, naming the world No. 2 as the player of the season.
“He's played a lot of tournaments. It’s hard to do what he's done – going from back to back, to tournament to tournament to tournament. He's just done it all the time.
“I wanted to do well in China, and he's won two big events in China, so I'd say, ‘right, you can have my UK [Championship] and have my Masters, because I've had loads of them.
“I want to do well in China. All right, I won one, but I would have swapped my Masters and UK [Championship] for his two in China, to be fair. Absolutely, yeah.”
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‘It feels like the exhibition has started’ - Trump pots pink off seven cushions
Video credit: TNT Sports
Trump was also chosen for shot of the season, with O’Sullivan highlighting his seven-cushion exhibition shot in the Northern Ireland Open final.
“It's got to be one of Judd's, isn't it? He always sort of produces a shot where you just go like, how do you do that?
“I think that pink in the middle, I've never seen that one before, where he's playing Chris Wakelin. He potted the pink and he's come off one, two, three, four, five, maybe six cushions.
“I know how he does it, but to try and adopt that technique and get your cue to swing in like that is incredible, really.”
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