John Higgins gets 'brutally honest' as snooker pundit told Ronnie O'Sullivan's annoyed

Scottish star believes would likely get "annoyed" with comparisons to himself and Higgins (49), O'Sullivan (49) and Williams (50) have all been demonstrating their experience at the 2025

All three players progressed into the second round, while Williams recently overcame Hossein Vafaei 13-10 to move into the third round. Despite being amongst the oldest players at the Crucible, the trio are proving age is just a number as they continue to shine at the Crucible.

Higgins also moved into the second round by overcoming Chinese star Xiao Guodong 13-12 in a clash which will be remembered as one of the matches of the tournament. After his victory, Higgins, who faces Williams in the next round on April 29, was asked about the inevitable comparisons between the three golden oldies.

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However, when asked if he gets frustrated by being compared to the aforementioned duo, the Scot believes the only person who would be perturbed is the Rocket, despite all of their esteemed accomplishments over the years.

While speaking to , Higgins was asked if he ever feels "cheesed off" by comparisons to Williams and O'Sullivan. The Scot quickly replied: "I’ll be brutally honest, I think Ronnie would get cheesed off.

"Ronnie has elevated himself away from the likes of me and Mark. That is where my thinking would be. He’s won a hell of a lot. I think me and Mark would be pleased.”

While O'Sullivan has won more titles than the pair, there is not an enormous gulf between the trio. In terms of World Championships, O'Sullivan is the joint highest in snooker history with seven titles, tied with Stephen Hendry.

Out of the trio, Higgins is in second with four world titles, while Williams has emerged from the Crucible victorious on three occasions. All three players have also held the position of World No.1 at various points in their careers.

While O'Sullivan is considered to be the greatest of all time by many, his displays at the Crucible have come as somewhat of a surprise. He had only recorded one victory in the whole of 2025 and had pulled out of the Welsh Open and the German Masters at the last minute in the run-up to the championship.

Nevertheless, he comfortably dispatched Ali Carter in the first round 10-4 and established a 6-2 lead over Chinese star Pang Junxu going into their second session. Even O'Sullivan himself admitted he was surprised by his emphatic display against Carter.

The Rocket said: "I had no expectations so there were no nerves, I didn't expect to perform well based on the past three or four years. I just wanted to make a game of it."

The draw on O'Sullivan's side has also been blown wide open by the exits of Zhang Anda and Mark Selby, who were beaten by Junxu and Ben Woollaston, respectively. Eighth seed Mark Allen was also knocked out by Chris Wakelin, despite securing a maximum 147 break in the clash.

Ex-champion Neil Robertson was also beaten by Wakelin, who fumbled a 7-2 lead against the Australian, but managed to rediscover his composure to run out as a 10-8 victor.