Stephen Hendry is convinced Ronnie O’Sullivan is showing the form that could bring him a record-breaking eighth World Championship title in Sheffield.
Scottish great Hendry was the Crucible king in the 1990s, and he and Englishman O’Sullivan jointly hold the record of triumphing seven times at the famous venue.
But that could change in the next 10 days as O’Sullivan chases the eighth world title of his career.
A brisk 10-4 victory against Ali Carter in round one allowed O’Sullivan to brush off the cobwebs, having not played in professional competition since snapping his cue in frustration at the state of his game in January. He has also been struggling with what he termed “stage fright”.
On Saturday, O’Sullivan begins his second-round match against 25-year-old Chinese player Pang Junxu, who beat Zhang Anda in his opener.
The contest begins at 14:30 BST and spans three sessions across three days, finishing on Monday evening.
As long as O’Sullivan’s focus holds, his prospects look increasingly good because his game appeared in decent shape against Carter.
It does his trophy chances no harm that Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby and Mark Allen have all been knocked out of his half of the draw.
Hendry already likes O’Sullivan’s chances.
He told World Snooker Tour’s Snooker Club podcast: “Even though he will deflect away from his chances of winning this thing, I think the way he played [against Carter] definitely shows he is a contender.
“So I’m really looking forward to seeing how he plays the rest of the championship.”
Six-time champion Steve Davis considers snooker’s 17-day ‘marathon of the mind’ an altogether fresh challenge now the first-round stage has been navigated.
Speaking on BBC Four, Davis said those who have passed that examination of their credentials should be able to compete without feeling overly worried now the matches have shifted from best-of-19 to best-of-25-frame contests.
There is greater scope for recovering from a dip in form over the longer matches.
“I don’t think you approach it differently, but you are more relaxed from not having the panic of the first round,” Davis said.
“You know you’ve got to have an overnight sleep on a lead or a deficit and that can sometimes play its part.
“But just to be more relaxed, in as much as you’ve got a longer match, is handy, because you don’t have anywhere near as much of a panic if you have a bad mini-session or session.”
At the age of 49, O’Sullivan would be snooker’s oldest world champion if he takes the title on 5 May. He already holds that record following his victory against Judd Trump three years ago.
