| Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 16 April-2 May |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV and Red Button with uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website & app |
Steve Davis held the record for the most appearances at the World Championship when he was at 30.
There are many milestones that O' Sullivan has reached.
The Rocket has won six world titles and made more century breaks than any other player.
He has won 38 ranking titles, which is a new record for him.
The Englishman has only one world title to his name, which is adrift of the seven won by the Scot.
After reaching the semi-finals of the Tour Championship in April, O'Sullivan returned to the top of the world rankings.
His ranking points were boosted by his victory at the World Grand Prix in December and by reaching the final of the European Masters to put him on course to finish the season in the number one spot.
To get back to number one at 46, I am a bit like how did that happen? It is similar to when I won the world title without playing for a year.
Who does that? If I had applied myself to snooker over the years, I could have been the number one for 29 years, but life gets in the way.
I was not like a Stephen Hendry or Steve Davis where I was devoted to playing and any distraction that got in my way had to go. I have been distracted under the Sun.
O'Sullivan leads the way when it comes to Triple Crown events despite not having the image of relentless figures like Davis and Hendry.
His total of 20 titles across the World Championship, the UK Championship and the invitational Masters is more than any other player. John and Mark are 11 titles adrift of O' Sullivan.
Only three players have won all three Triple Crown events in the same season, with the only two being Davis and Mark Williams.
O'Sullivan was part of snooker's class of 92 that year, turning professional alongside four-time world champion Higgins and three-time winner Williams.
Only Hendry has a better record when it comes to winning matches at the Crucible.
Between 1986 and 2012 the Scots won 70 matches from 90, a win ratio of 80%, but just two victories will see the Englishman eclipse that total, if not ratio.
Davis, who won the world title six times, played a total of 84 matches and won 60.
Over the past 27 years, both Williams and Higgins have won more than 70% of their matches, with Williams winning 43 of the 63 matches he has played.
Unlike Davis who did not qualify for the tournament in 2001 and 2002, O'Sullivan has never missed a Crucible appearance.
The 25th anniversary of his virtuoso display against Mick Price is marked by the fact that O'Sullivan has compiled the fastest breaks in professional snooker.
One of the most famous moments in the history of the Crucible is O'Sullivan's 147 in five minutes and eight seconds.
It was 8-5 at the interval and we got a knock on the door to say they were holding us back for 10 minutes so the next frame could be shown live on the BBC.
I cut it a bit thin after I made a decent break and he played safe. I was in the Guinness Book of Records in five minutes and eight seconds.
I couldn't believe how fast he was going. I watched it back and he was running around the table, it was brilliant, mesmeric.
His match-winning 147 against Mark Williams in 2008 is one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time.
He swept past Marcus Campbell, Ali Carter, Stuart Bingham and Judd Trump before beating Barry Hawkins in the final without losing a session.
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