Next year, in 2025, the '75 Trio' will gradually enter their fifties. Currently, these three veterans still stand among the top players, with Rocket O'Sullivan ranked 3rd in the world, Golden Left Hand Williams ranked 6th, and Wizard Higgins ranked 14th. The question of when the '75 Trio' will retire and who will be the first to do so is a topic that many fans have long been concerned about. Recently, British media "Metro" published an article in which Stephen Hendry and Mark Williams exchanged their views. This article is a brief translation of the report.
Firstly, Old Ma excluded himself from the list of potential first retirees. He said: "It won't be me, I'm far from it." Old Ma declared that he would not retire before being demoted; even if demoted, he would continue to participate in amateur competitions.
Hendry believes that the first to retire will be O'Sullivan. Hendry said: "Regardless of competitive level, the rocket now makes too much money, I don't know if his competitive spirit is still there, I don't know."
Old Ma basically agrees that the rocket may be the first to retire. Old Ma thinks that if the rocket cannot continue to win as before, he will not be able to accept the situation of constantly losing. Then, Old Ma gave the rocket a wave of praise, saying: "Even now, if he keeps playing, he is still the best player in the world. Even with Trump's current performance, if the rocket participates in every game and plays at his best, he is undoubtedly the best player in the world."
As for Higgins, the wizard once hinted that he would retire at the age of 50, but recently signed a new long-term endorsement contract for cue sticks, so it seems unlikely that he will end his career soon.
Hendry believes that compared to O'Sullivan or Williams, Higgins faces the biggest problem in his current career is difficulty in accepting mistakes, yet as age grows, mistakes are inevitable.
Hendry told Old Ma: "You three, now make some simple ball mistakes that you wouldn't have made before (Old Ma agrees, time waits for no man), but Higgins may not be as good as you and the rocket in this regard; he can't accept it well; he is more easily affected by bad mistakes."
Finally, let me say a few words about my personal opinion.
It is very likely that Old Ma will retire last, unless there is a major change in his physical condition, such as a significant decline in vision. Old Ma now has the best mentality, he's just having fun. If demoted, Old Ma might also go to Q School for fun, not to mention that WST will definitely give him a wild card.
Rocket O'Sullivan, despite the rocket saying in another interview that he could still play for ten years. But the teacher's words, true or false, no one can tell, one day he's unhappy, he might just quit. However, playing for ten more years is not impossible. But even if the fire teacher plays for ten more years, don't expect him to really compete in the later years. The fire teacher wants to enjoy snooker, when he's in the mood, he wins a few more games, when he's not in the mood, he directly withdraws. If he really gets demoted one day, the fire teacher with a wild card will put even less thought into the professional arena, at most playing a few scattered games.
The fire teacher is unpredictable, and Old Zhang (Higgins) is likely to retire earliest, depending on how long Old Zhang can maintain his current state. If the competition state is poor and the ranking keeps dropping, Old Zhang may retire before being demoted.
However, these are all hard to say, it depends on personal mentality. If it's hard to accept failure, like Hendry, who announced his retirement while still ranked in the top 32.