[attach id=251616 size="medium"]Ronnie O’Sullivan... impressive at the Crucible.[/attach]

Dennis Taylor claims there would be no tears shed among fellow players if Ronnie O’Sullivan carried out his latest threat to quit snooker.

But 1985 world champion Taylor believes that, rather than quitting for good, O’Sullivan should at least keep showing up to the Crucible until he breaks Stephen Hendry’s record of seven titles.

O’Sullivan, 37, is currently locked in a tight semi-final with Judd Trump at the World Championship.

The match began under a cloud on Thursday, not only with a war of words breaking out between the players but also with O’Sullivan announcing this year would be his “swansong” at snooker’s most famous venue, explaining he only returned from a near year-long break because he needed money to pay school fees.

Taylor said: “He loves playing the game still, as you can tell by the way he’s playing. There’d be nothing wrong with winning the World Championship every year and playing in nothing else.

“And then when he’s overtaken Stephen Hendry I’ll say he’s the greatest player that’s ever picked a cue up, so maybe that’s what he’s going to do. He’d be sorely missed by some but not by the players. They won’t mind if Ronnie doesn’t want to play.

“It means more money, more titles for them.”

Steve Davis, king of the game in the 1980s, was not impressed by O’Sullivan’s comments.

Davis said: “We know full well that Ronnie O’Sullivan’s interviews are a bit like the British weather: they’re changeable.

“But there’s a dilemma for the snooker fan. They love what comes off the end of his cue; they sometimes hate what comes out of his mouth because it is sometimes disrespectful to snooker.”

Jostling for the right to take on O’Sullivan or Trump are Chester’s Ricky Walden and Kent’s Barry Hawkins. Theirs is perhaps the most unlikely final-four pairing since Nigel Bond took on Andy Hicks in 1995.

Hawkins had speculated that he might struggle with the pressure of the Crucible’s semi-final set-up, featuring only one table in the arena.

So it proved, as on Thursday he had a best break of only 19 in the opening four frames while Walden had runs of 91, 105 and 119 as he appeared at home on the big stage.

Latest results: SFs (best of 33) – O’Sullivan leads Trump 13-9; Walden leads Hawkins 9-7.