Ronnie O’Sullivan is arguably the greatest snooker player of all time and he commended one of the wildest shots ever pocketed in pool history
A viral video of Carl ‘Houdini’ Morris showing off his magic pool skills had snooker great Ronnie O’Sullivan applauding.
The former world pool champion has dubbed himself the ‘ultimate pool player’. And after seeing the shot he made against Scott Gillespie in the Ultimate Pool British Open last year, he seems to have earned that label.
Scottish star Gillespie looked to have snookered Morris in their match. It appeared to be an impossible task for ‘Houdini’ to hit his ball. If he were to hit it, everything had to be perfect – and it was.
“Oh my word,” was the reaction from one of two commentators on the match, after Morris stunningly pocketed his ball by deploying an astonishing spin. The second commentator could only follow with: “Oh my god.” They were both shocked.
The next few lines that followed from the pair were: “That’s ridiculous,” “that’s mental,” “that’s outrageous” and “that is absolutely stupid”. They were simply dumbfounded.
Although this match was held in March last year, the moment has been shared on X again. This time, seven-time World Snooker Champion O’Sullivan reacted to the video with the applauding emoji – something that all pool and snooker players would want to receive.
What’s even more impressive is that Morris was able to hit this shot again. In an interview with BBC Look North, for the camera, he attempted to recreate the shot. He said: “And when people have asked me to recreate the shot, no chance. I mean, it one in 10,000, one in 100,000.
“I’m not a bookmaker, but I just know that if I try and do it again, I might be able to swerve it, but in order to pot that and get precision, wish me luck.”
It wasn’t luck he needed, it was just the magic touch that ‘Houdini’ has with his cue that made him hit the ‘one in 10,000’ shot twice. Morris couldn’t believe it – he had done it again.
The star, from Kent, was left profoundly deaf and without speech through a childhood illness. But he says pool was his saviour, rescuing him from a life of isolation, giving him direction and purpose – ultimately leading to a career.
Representing the men’s county team at the age of 14, within three years Morris turned professional. By 18 he was an international and by 21 he achieved the status of becoming the youngest-ever world champion – a record that stands to this day.