With the 2025 World Championship now underway let's highlight some of the key contenders for victory. We continue our guide by taking a focused look at one of the greatest snooker players in history, Ronnie O’Sullivan.
What are the World Championship odds for Ronnie O’Sullivan?
Despite having a difficult 2025 where O’Sullivan has barely featured in professional events, the bookmakers aren’t taking any chances with his odds and he is currently positioned as the third favourite for victory. Bettors can currently back the seven time World Champion at odds of 7-1.
What is Ronnie O’Sullivans record at the World Championships?
Simply put, O’Sullivan has a world record that only Stephen Hendry can match. The two stand alone at the top of the overall standings with seven World Championships apiece.
Before O’Sullivan’s much documented mental health issues many believed it was only a matter of time before O’Sullivan was able to win a record eighth World Championship - however, with him arriving at the World Championships with form to find and prove whether he can win that elusive World title this year remains very much up for debate.
Above is O’Sullivans record from the last ten World Championships and you can see that despite being a seven time winner of this event, he has only won two in the last ten years.
As O’Sullivan’s career is slowly winding down he has suffered quarterfinal defeats in each of the last two years and with him not having played a professionally sanctioned match for months, there is no guarantee that he will surpass that effort this time around.
O’Sullivan is without doubt the most talented player to have ever played the game. If he can win the World Championship this year without having played a match all year, his legacy of being the greatest snooker player of all time will be complete.
What is O’Sullivans form like heading into the World Championships?
To put it simply, O'Sullivan's form heading into the World Championships is non-existent.
Despite his best intentions to play, off the table issues have taken their toll on O’Sullivan and he has withdrawn from many different events due to his mental health not being in a place where he can compete.
The last time where O’Sullivan lined up to play was at the 2024 Riyadh Snooker Championship where he defeated Ding Junhui in the opening round of the tournament before falling to Mark Allen.
With the exception of that effort, his tournament appearances have been few and far between and there is no guarantee that he will make an appearance at this year’s World Championships.
When it comes to tournament victories, his last victory came back at the World Grand Prix in 2024, that is now well over a year ago and the Rocket has very little experience to draw on in the business end of tournaments to draw on in recent times.
However, if you want to back O’Sullivan that shouldn’t put you off. O’Sullivan has publicly mentioned in the past that he has a love / hate relationship with the game and he has spent significant time away from the sport before and still produced.
Perhaps most notably was back in 2013. The Rocket turned up for the World Championships short of match practice but still was able to beat some of the best players in the world and capture another world title.
Whilst it could be argued that repeating that feat from twelve years ago will be much harder due to the awesome strength and depth now in the game, if O’Sullivan can get on a run, he could well land this title once again.
2025 World Championship in focus
It’s hard to know what version of O’Sullivan is going to turn up, or whether the Rocket will even turn up at all. However, the entire snooker world is hoping that he can summon up the strength to take his place as a tournament with O’Sullivan in it, is far stronger and better than without him.
If O’Sullivan does indeed make the trip to Sheffield then the man he will face in the first round is one he knows well, Ali Carter.
Carter and O’Sullivan have long had a history with one another and the World Championships. Carter has reached the World Championship Final on two occasions but on both occasions it was O’Sullivan who would end up victorious.
As well as meeting in the final of the Crucible, the two have also met in the final of the 2024 Masters where once again it was O’Sullivan who ended up on top.
In order to reach this phase of the tournament, Carter had to advance through two rounds of qualifying and with semifinal efforts at both the Welsh and World Opens recently in the book he is certainly in formidable form and won’t give O’Sullivan an easy time of things.
If O’Sullivan can find a way to win, (he should be hopeful of doing so as he has won the last four encounters between the pair), a matchup against either Anda Zhang or Junxu Pang awaits in the last 16.
Hoping to get matches and time at the table under his belt, O’Sullivan will be the bookmakers' favourite to reach at least the quarterfinals. If he can make it that far he will likely square off against the defending champion Kyren Wilson.
The draw has been relatively kind to the seven time world champion and he will certainly hope to make the most of it.
If he can advance that far, he would have the momentum of the crowd behind him and anything could be possible. He has defied the critics and pundits once before, few would bet against him doing so once more.
Jonathan Ashby
Jonathan Ashby, at 35, boasts a deep well of knowledge about the world of snooker. A specialist with a passion for the game's history, techniques, and players, he provides invaluable insights to both novices and seasoned enthusiasts. Through his articles, Jonathan aims to share the rich tapestry and nuances of this beloved cue sport.
 (1).webp)
.webp)
