So far so good for Ronnie O`Sullivan

Flawless

The beginning of 2016 have been memorable for Ronnie O`Sullivan and his fans.

Firstly he was awarded an OBE in the New Year's Honour List, becoming only the 3rd Snooker player to do so.

This is something I'm happy with, he has deserved it for everything he has achieved, even though I thought he'd never get it because he has said it doesn't mean anything for him several times. However you can't ignore someone who holds the record for more consecutive matches won in Ranking Events, winning believe or not the first 38 matches of his career. He also holds the records for more Century Breaks made (802) and more Maximum 147 Breaks made (13). Ronnie O`Sullivan have won 56 titles in his career, his title per tournament played rate is better than anyone's, and he's alongside Stephen Hendry as the only players to have won The Masters, the UK Championship and the World Snooker Championship five times each.

Numbers apart, O`Sullivan played the Group 1 of the Championship League for the last couple of days. I considered this a very important tournament for Ronnie because I missed confidence in his defeat against Carrington in the German Masters Qualifier last month, he was cueing unstable and he was fear of playing certain shots in my opinion. So, playing 6 of the best players in the World - including Higgins and Williams - over two days should be great for his confidence.

But it was better than I expected, O`Sullivan not just won the Group but did it unbeaten becoming the 3rd player to do so in the 9 year history of the Championship League, where 65 Groups have been played.

O`Sullivan won 8 matches, winning 24 frames and losing just 8. He made 7 Century Breaks and remarkably came back from 0-2 down to beat John Higgins 3-2 with Breaks of 51, 115 and 81 in the Group phase. In the play-off, O`Sullivan defeated Walden 3-0 in the Semi-Final, and made breaks of 120 and 133 to beat Robert Milkins 3-0 in the Final.

But the most notable moment in these last couple of days must've been Ronnie O`Sullivan's 136 Total Clearance in a 3-1 defeat of Barry Hawkins.  That was his 800th career Century Break, just one year after breaking Stephen Hendry's record of 775. Ronnie O`Sullivan is very comfortable in this record because the closest player in activity is John Higgins, and he's just above 600. And you also expect Ronnie to make quite a lot more yet in his career.

O`Sullivan now advances to the Winner's Group, and will chase for the trophy on March 2nd and 3rd.

The Group 2 will be played in the next couple of days, you can follow the results through our Facebook Page. And then all comes to The Masters, which starts Sunday 10 at Ally Pally. O`Sullivan plays Mark Williams on Tuesday. Stay tunned for our unmissable pre-Masters post, telling you all you need to know about the 1st Triple Crown event of the year.