Derogatory comments made a veteran snooker star may come back to haunt him if a recent study into the sport is to believed.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has courted controversy throughout his career and his latest outburst at the World Championships in Sheffield continued that trend.
After booking a quarter-final spot against Mark Williams, the five-time world champion was asked if he was surprised that they were still amongst the best players around.
“If you asked me then (if I thought I’d still be at this level), then no,” O’Sullivan told the BBC. “But if you look at the standard of play then I’d say yes – for people like me and John (Higgins) and Mark (Williams).
“If you look at the younger players coming through, they’re not that good really. Most of them, they’d probably do well as half-decent amateurs, not even amateurs – they’re so bad.
“A lot of them you see now, you think, I’ve probably got to lose an arm and a leg to fall outside the top 50. So that’s why we’re hovering around – because of how poor it is down that end.”
Although O’Sullivan’s comments may have been a little tongue-in-cheek, they could end up being the catalyst for a shift in the balance of power within snooker.
According to Betway, the dominance of British and Irish players like O’Sullivan could soon be ended by a new wave of new talent coming through the ranks.
There have previously just been three previous overseas winners of the World Championships from Australia (2) and Canada (1).
Diversity doesn’t appear to be snooker’s strong point, with Leicester-based Rory McLeod the only black player to compete on the circuit over the past two decades.
Neil Robertson was the last non-British and Irish player to lift the trophy back in 2010, but things could be set to change over the next few years.
The emergence of China’s Ding Junhui around 15 years ago inspired many Asian youngsters to take up the sport, and the results of that are now beginning to show.
Liang Wenbo and Yan Bingtao are amongst a plethora of players already making their mark on professional snooker and many more are tipped to follow.
Seven of the current top 32 players in the world are Asian, while there are numerous others making a rapid climb up the standings.
All of those players have a long way to go before they can match O’Sullivan’s achievements, but his comments are sure to inspire them to greater heights.
As the likes have Ray Reardon, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and others have proved before, age eventually catches up with every snooker player.
With so many Asian players coming through the ranks, it is likely to only be a matter of time before one of them knocks O’Sullivan off his perch.