Ronnie O'Sullivan salutes Luke Littler and Novak Djokovic as sporting inspirations

Record 41-time world ranking event winner O’Sullivan was being interviewing by TNT Sports when he was asked which sports stars - outside of snooker - had impressed him over the past couple of years.

In response, the first person ‘The Rocket’ named was darting wonderkid Littler, who burst into sporting stardom at the end of 2023 on his way to reaching the World Darts Championship final at the Alexandra Palace in London as a 16-year-old.

O’Sullivan said: “Luke Littler for me. He’s quite an incredible phenomenon really. I love watching him play, makes darts really exciting.”

Comparing the incredible teenage achievements of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Luke Littler

There are many similarities between the careers of the immensely talented and entertaining O’Sullivan and Littler - who are more than three decades apart in age - with such parallels being picked up on by the wider sporting media.

Even before he joined the professional snooker circuit in 1992, very big things were expected of a teenage O’Sullivan.

He had already appeared - and impressed - on television several times, won several titles including the World Under-21 Snooker Championship, and made a maximum 147 break in competition.

As a 16-year-old in his rookie season as a professional, O’Sullivan won a staggering 74 of his first 76 qualifying matches, including a world record run of 38 successive match victories. He won an invitational event in Thailand and reached his first ranking event quarter-final at the 1993 European Open in Belgium.

At the end of his maiden campaign, he appeared at the Crucible Theatre for the main draw stages of the 1993 World Snooker Championship, having won 10 consecutive qualifying matches several months earlier to become the youngest player ever to qualify for the Crucible.

The following season, O’Sullivan continued his rapid rise up the ranks, and just seven days short of his 18th birthday, he defeated reigning World Champion and world number one Stephen Hendry 10-6 in the final to win the 1993 UK Championship - the first of what would be a record-breaking haul of career Triple Crown event titles.

Later in the same season, O’Sullivan secured his second ranking title at the 1994 British Open, and the next year he denied John Higgins in an all-teenage final to claim his first Masters crown.

Just like O’Sullivan, Littler had won a plethora of junior and senior accolades before he appeared on the professional stage. He qualified for the WDF World Darts Championship in 2022, and won a match on the famous Lakeside stage, being the youngest to win a world championship match in the sport.

Having won titles on the PDC Development Tour, Littler played superbly as he won the 2023 PDC World Youth Darts Championship live on television in front of a huge audience at Butlins Minehead - a hint of what was to come from him on the big stage.

Just a few weeks later, Littler defeated former champions Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross on his way to reaching the 2023/24 PDC World Darts Championship final, despite only being 16.

He was denied by Luke Humphries in the title match, but he wouldn’t have to wait too long until he got his hands on The Sid Waddell Trophy.

In his first season as a professional, Littler hit the ground running, winning several titles - including TV majors the Premier League and the Grand Slam - and went one better than 12 months before as he defeated Michael van Gerwen in the final to win the World Darts Championship as a 17-year-old, becoming the sport’s youngest-ever World Champion.

Having only turned 18 in January, Littler is one of the hottest properties in all of world sport.

O’Sullivan also named Usain Bolt, Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Novak Djokovic as inspirations to him, and has also been impressed by the rise of both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

“The Rocket” met Djokovic at last year’s Wimbledon Championships and is backing the tennis great to win a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title.

"I definitely think he's got one in him, for sure" O'Sullivan said. "I think that's obviously his main goal now, he's got nothing to prove.

"Who's to say he won't win two, three (more)"