How many of you started to like snooker because of Ronnie O’Sullivan? However, it does not matter, because if you like snooker you need to know this name. The man who won back-to-back World Snooker Championships and his seventh Masters title in 2017.
Ronald Antonio O’Sullivan, an English professional Snooker Player who was born 5 December 1975.
O’Sullivan, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport made his first-century break aged 10 and his first 147 at 15.
Ronnie’s career total of 34 ranking titles is second only to Stephen Henry’s 36, while his career earnings over £10 million put him in first place on snooker’s all-time prize-money list.
O’Sullivan, who holds the record for the most century breaks in professional competition, is the only player ever to have achieved more than 900 career centuries.
His mother left when he was 16, his father served 18 years behind bars for murder. He Struggled with alcohol, drugs and depression has repeatedly threatened to retire, he have won 24 ranking events, 10 Premier Leagues, more than 50 tournaments altogether.
Snooker legend, champion and a bit of a rebel. Find out 6 things to love about Ronnie.
He is the youngest player to ever win the UK Championship
In 1993 at age 17 and 358 days, Ronnie won the UK Championship (snooker) making him the youngest ever snooker player to win the title. He still holds the record today.
He is one of the best snooker players in the world
Ronnie has won five World Championships, six Masters, five UK Championship titles, a total of 28 ranking titles and ten Premier League Snooker titles.
He is unpredictable
From his game swagger and pranks to outspokenness during press conferences (he asked an official at the China Open "F*** me, how many more questions are they going to ask?"), there have been many, many times he has truly not give a f***.
He is spiritual
Since 2001 he's expressed an interest in Buddhism and has attended meetings at The London Buddhist Centre in Bethnal Green. He also says spiritual self-help book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, "is just my little journey. If ever my mind's whizzing it's what I go back to."
He Loves to cook
A man of many talents, Ronnie is both a foodie and an amateur chef. Regularly posting his latest creations on Twitter, he also appeared on BBC's Saturday Kitchen in December 2014.
He is a crime novelist
Never one to be boring, Ronnie is releasing a crime book in November 2016. Loosely based on his life-story his publisher Orion says the novel is set in the "dog-eat-dog underworld of 1980s Soho" and the main character Frankie will inherit a snooker club from a renowned London gangster.
On the next page, you can find 9 of the most interesting answers from O’Sulliivan’s Twitter Q&A
Messi or Ronaldo? – @tom_byatt
https://twitter.com/ronnieo147/status/915221020566593537
If one of your kids wanted to play snooker for a living, would you encourage/discourage them? – @dermotgilmartin
https://twitter.com/ronnieo147/status/915220501877919745
Who’s the best snooker player you’ve ever faced to this day? – @liamsharples
https://twitter.com/ronnieo147/status/915110534478991360
What do you think a 147 is worth in prize money these days? What’s the minimum amount that you would attempt one for? – @CWillis7
https://twitter.com/ronnieo147/status/915107044843192320
When you aim is it pure instinct now or do you still have a process to work out the angles? – @DizTheTwit
https://twitter.com/ronnieo147/status/915124665345085440
What’s your best tip for getting faster 5k and 10k times? – @ianwalton1975
https://twitter.com/ronnieo147/status/915117592238583808
How inspirational was the professor (Steve Peters) who taught you about emotional intelligence? – @shadman1980
https://twitter.com/ronnieo147/status/915117191569211392
Do you get tired of giving people your autograph? – @carlosfung2001
https://twitter.com/ronnieo147/status/915125627765886977
Chuck Norris or Bruce Lee? – @BlkCab2016
https://twitter.com/ronnieo147/status/915224412424728576
On the next page, you can find out top 8 best quotes of O’Sullivan
“It's so strange that the more successful you become, the more people want to give you things. And the more you can afford, the more people want to give you things for nothing. It doesn't seem right.”
― Ronnie O'Sullivan,
Ronnie
“I just want to live for the moment. Tomorrow's not important, next month is not important, what's happened in the past is not important. That is my journey.”
― Ronnie O'Sullivan,
Ronnie
“So, all in all, the whore's drawers are back up, and with any luck they'll stay that way.”
― Ronnie O'Sullivan,
Running: The Autobiography
“With all my demons, and my mum away, and dad away, and the drink and drugs, the kids, the maintenance, the keeping fit, the obsessions, the depressions, in between all that I’ve managed to win four world titles, four UKs and four Masters. I don’t know how. I’ve won 24 ranking events, 10 Premier Leagues, more than 50 tournaments altogether. It’s not bad going for such a fuck-up!”
― Ronnie O'Sullivan,
Running: The Autobiography
“A champion thinks: ‘That’s going in the hole, pot the blue and get on to the pink; that’s the shot.’ Embrace the moment, I told myself. This is what top sport is about, this is how you separate yourself from the pack. You grab these opportunities, and commit.”
― Ronnie O'Sullivan,
Running: The Autobiography
“I’ve tried a number of religions and gurus in my time, including Buddhism, but ultimately they didn’t do as much for my peace of mind as snooker.”
― Ronnie O'Sullivan
“Even though I was still running well, I didn’t feel good in myself. It’s funny: to the outside world I looked in great nick – healthy, trim, fit. Everybody was saying, you’re looking well, but I was in pieces. I wasn’t eating my way out of depression, but I was running my way out of my depression. But even the running didn’t always do the trick.”
― Ronnie O'Sullivan,
Running: The Autobiography
“When I stopped taking drugs I got really depressed. I was struggling with life. It’s a bit chicken and egg. I was depressed because I’d stopped drinking and taking drugs, but I only drank and took drugs in the first place because I was depressed. Ultimately I’d rather be clean and depressed than on drugs and depressed. At least there’s a way out, and you’re reliant on your natural feelings – if you’re down you really are down; if you’re up, you are genuinely up.”
― Ronnie O'Sullivan,
Running: The Autobiography
On the next page, you can find out The Guardian’s “The Observer” column’s most interesting parts about Ronnie O’ Sullivan.
Pocket calculator
O'Sullivan, who made his first-century break aged 10 and his first 147 at 15
There was the following exchange on television between Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor after O'Sullivan had made his 371st televised century break. Davis: 'I don't see how you can improve on this standard. Total control of the cue ball.' Taylor: 'He's got that cue ball on a string.'
Davis: 'It is a truly devastating standard and I think this gentleman is moving this game to new levels.'
Yet today O'Sullivan is not pleased with himself. He orders a salmon sandwich and eats half of it desultorily. 'It was quite strange,' he says, eager to talk. 'For the whole tournament, I was really struggling. The only thing I looked forward to was practising with Ray.'
It goes without saying that O'Sullivan's father remains a powerful influence in his life. As a child Ronnie Jr was ferried to and from snooker clubs and looked after in every respect. The money from the sex shops meant that no expense was spared in helping him pursue his goal. He had his own purpose-built snooker room at the family's Essex home. He was allowed to leave school a year early on condition that he did roadwork every morning and only went into snooker clubs to practice and nothing else.
In his autobiography, Ronnie, O'Sullivan writes: 'Dad and his mate were in a nightclub arguing over who should pay the bill [his father, he says, insisted on paying for everything]. Then two black fellas, brothers who had been signed in that night by Charlie Kray, got the wrong end of the stick and thought Dad and his mate weren't going to pay. A row started. Dad said, "Let's talk about it", and walked around the bar, where one of the brothers picked up an ashtray and went to whack Dad over the head. Dad put up his hand, the ashtray smashed and two of his fingers were severed. The other fella then picked up a champagne bottle and smashed Dad over the head with it. Dad then picked up a knife that was on the side of the bar and that was it.'
In September 1992, the trial judge, mindful of what he said in his summing-up was 'racial overtones', sentenced Ron O'Sullivan to 18 years in prison for murder. Shortly before he went to jail, Ron had told his son that he must choose between snooker and Pippa, his then-girlfriend. Pippa went.
In November 1993, aged 17 years and 11 months, Ronnie won the UK championships.
The world championship that had appeared inevitable after such feats as his 5min 20sec 147 break during the 1997 tournament eluded him. He looked lost. He frequently talked of giving up entirely. He checked into the Priory and, in his own words, he 'got his life back'. In 2001 he became world champion for the first time.
'My father has been brilliant,' he says now. There is a snooker table in the room, but he shows no interest in it. He draws on a Marlboro Light. 'He's given me everything. If I don't want to do it for myself I can do it for him. I just want people to come from the heart. I've had hangers-on for six months or a year but you find out in the end. I was hanging out with the wrong people.'
He leans back and smiles trustingly. His vulnerability is palpable and rather shocking. He's the champ. Surely he should be cock of the walk? 'I've always been in search of something,' he says. 'Serenity, happiness. A lot of times I've not been happy. Voices in my head. In 2001 at the Priory I went on a spiritual ... now I don't go round the angles. I go straight to the thing. Like playing left-handed. Or going to the Buddhist centre. Then when I'm ready to go back into the nuttiness of the world, I will.'
