Ronnie O'Sullivan begins his bid for World Championship glory on Monday, admitting he has to end his six-year Crucible drought.
The Rocket is the favourite for this year's tournament after one of the most spectacular seasons in his illustrious career.
Five-time winner O'Sullivan, 43, is back at No 1 in the world rankings for the first time in nine years after winning five of the 10 events he has entered.
Snooker icon Ronnie O'Sullivan will begin his bid for a sixth world title in Sheffield on Monday
He arrives in Sheffield having set a new record of 19 Triple Crown wins, and equalled Stephen Hendry's mark of 36 ranking titles.
He also became the first player to break the 1,000 century-break barrier — enough to strike fear into both Monday's amateur opponent James Cahill, who is Hendry's nephew, and the rest of the field. But O'Sullivan has not lifted this trophy since 2013.
He knows that time is running out to add to his triumphs on the biggest stage — or have any chance of matching Hendry's seven successes.
He said: 'Losing the 2014 final to Mark Selby was a big one in terms of getting past Hendry's seven world titles and made it a lot harder. It is probably out of reach now. Winning one is hard enough, two would be extra hard and as for three… I am not greedy, I want to play and compete, and it won't stop me having fun. In my heart I think it is possible I can win this again, but it won't be easy, you've got to really want it here.
'Of course I would love to but all the other players want that title. If I don't win it in the next year or two you could probably say I might never win another one. So if I am going to do that, it will have to be this year or next year.
World Championship wins: 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013
Century breaks: 1,008
Maximum 147 breaks: 15
Tournament wins: 71
Career winnings: £10.8million
'I don't think people out there realise what this event is like. It is
