Ronnie O'Sullivan will not be 'thrilled at the prospect' of being in the same half of the World Championship draw as Judd Trump, according to Neal Foulds.
O'Sullivan has the chance of winning all three Triple Crown events in the same calendar year for the first time in his career when he heads to the Crucible next month.
The feat has only been achieved four times previously with Stephen Hendry managing it twice along with Steve Davis and Mark Williams.
O'Sullivan has a great chance of joining the exclusive list when the World Championships get underway next month.
The 48-year-old has won five titles this year, three of which were non-ranking events - the Shanghai Masters, the Masters and World Masters of Snooker in Riyadh.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is looking to win an eighth World Championship title
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But the snooker icon has been evenly-matched by Trump this year with the 34-year-old's win at the World Open last week marking his fifth ranking title of the season.
That's just one short of the record Trump previously set back in the 2019-20 season when he won six ranking events.
But despite O'Sullivan and Trump being the most successful players this campaign, neither player will enter the Crucible as the top seed.
Luca Brecel will be seeded number one as the defending champion, meaning O'Sullivan and Trump are likely to enter the tournament as seeds two and three.
And Foulds, who won six tournaments during his playing career, believes both players will be annoyed at the prospect of being in the same half of the draw for the World Championships.
"The fact he’s only won one World Championship rankles with many, and that’s fair comment, but I don’t think anyone can seriously doubt that Judd is a great player," Foulds wrote for Sporting Life.
"Another world title would put such arguments to bed, and I’m not sure he’ll stop there.
"He might end up with three of four Crucible wins by the time he’s finished – he’s that good.
"I suppose the one negative hanging over him for the rest of the season is that he hasn’t beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan since 2020, losing their last five meetings now, having built up a relatively strong record against Ronnie prior to that.
Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump might be in the same half of the draw
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"You wouldn’t think Judd would lose too much sleep over that, but with defending champion Luca Brecel the number one seed at the Crucible, it’s looking increasingly likely that Judd and Ronnie will be seeded second and third in Sheffield, meaning they will be berthed in the same side of the draw.
"I don’t think either man will be thrilled about that prospect, but Ronnie clearly has the edge on recent form.
"The pair have dominated the snooker landscape for a number of months now. The two Triple Crowns this season have been won by Ronnie, along [with] many of the most valuable prizes on offer at home and abroad, while Judd has just kept winning when Ronnie has either underperformed or not entered at all.
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Luca Brecel will be the top seed as the defending champion
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"Allen has won a couple of big events and is rarely easy to beat nowadays, while Zhang Anda landed a huge tournament in the International Championship and has reached two more finals.
"We shouldn't forget Gary Wilson, either, winner of two Home Nations events in Scotland and Wales – no easy task when you consider the often brutal nature of that format.
"All that said, when it has come to the really big days, think the UK Championship, the Masters, and those important and hugely-valuable events overseas, it’s very much been the Ronnie and Judd show and it's hard to escape that."
