Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan

Nickname	The Rocket
Professional	1992–
Highest ranking	1 (3 years)
Current ranking	5 (as of 7 May 2024)
Century breaks	1,264 (as of 6 May 2024)
Tournament wins
Ranking	19
World Champion	2001, 2004

Ronnie O'Sullivan (born 5 December, 1975) is an English professional snooker player nicknamed The Rocket due to his rapid playing style, with unofficial monikers including The Essex Exocet and The Magician.

He is considered by many of his peers and snooker fans as one of the most naturally-talented players in the history of the sport. His highest level of play is arguably unmatched in the history of the game of snooker, although a temperamental streak sometimes shows him lacking in confidence or interest.

O'Sullivan is unique amongst the current ranks of top snooker professionals in that he can play with the cue in either his right or left hand—frequently alternating between the two within the same frame. Whilst he lacks power in his left arm, the ambidextrous angle to his game has proved to be a boon, allowing him to more naturally take on shots which would otherwise require awkward cueing with rest or spider.

When he first displayed this gift in the World Championships against Alain Robidoux, the Canadian accused him of disrespect. O'Sullivan responded that he played better with his left hand than Robidoux could with his right . O'Sullivan was summoned to a disciplinary hearing in response to Robidoux's formal complaint where he had to prove that he could play to a professional standard with his left hand. He played three frames of snooker against former world championship runner-up Rex Williams, winning all three of them. The charge of bringing the game into disrepute was subsequently dropped. He has commented several times since that switching to his left hand helps him retain his focus and provides him with extra motivation, both of which have often been found wanting in his prodigious game.

Career

O'Sullivan started his career at an early age. He first achieved a century at the age of 10, scored a 147 maximum break when just 15, and turned professional at 16. He was the youngest ever winner of a ranking tournament when he won the 1993 UK Championship aged 17. In total, he has achieved a 147 break in professional competition 6 times during his career. O'Sullivan has also compiled 461 competitive centuries during his career.

O'Sullivan's personal life has been well-documented. His father, Ronnie Sr, is serving a life sentence for murder , having been convicted of murdering the black bodyguard of Charlie Kray, brother of the Kray twins, when O'Sullivan was a teenager. This led to a harsher sentence as it was believed there was a racial element to the killing, something the family have always denied; they have also claimed that O'Sullivan acted in self defence.

Considered a perfectionist, O'Sullivan is publicly highly self-critical—even in victory. He has suffered from depression and various addictions. His career has thus not been without difficulties. After winning the 1998 Benson & Hedges Irish Masters, he was stripped of his title after a drugs test found marijuana in his system . He also has an uneasy relationship with the press, with some of his comments considered ungracious. In 2004, O'Sullivan's father called 1970s master player and six times World Champion Ray Reardon and asked that he give O'Sullivan some advice. With Reardon's backing, O'Sullivan came into top form and claimed the 2004 World Snooker Championship, famously humiliating Stephen Hendry 17 - 4 in the semi-final with a virtuoso display.

O'Sullivan is unique amongst the current ranks of top snooker professionals in that he can play with the cue in either his right or left hand—frequently alternating between the two within the same frame. Whilst he lacks power in his left arm, the ambidextrous angle to his game has proved to be a boon, allowing him to more naturally take on shots which would otherwise require awkward cueing with rest or spider.

When he first displayed this gift in the World Championships against Alain Robidoux, the Canadian accused him of disrespect. O'Sullivan responded that he played better with his left hand than Robidoux could with his right . O'Sullivan was summoned to a disciplinary hearing in response to Robidoux's formal complaint where he had to prove that he could play to a professional standard with his left hand. He played three frames of snooker against former world championship runner-up Rex Williams, winning all three of them. The charge of bringing the game into disrepute was subsequently dropped. He has commented several times since that switching to his left hand helps him retain his focus and provides him with extra motivation, both of which have often been found wanting in his prodigious game.

During the 1996 World Championship he was found guilty of assaulting an official by snooker's governing body,and was handed a two-year suspended sentence, a £20,000 fine and advised to donate £10,000 to charity. [1]

He holds the record for the fastest recorded maximum break, made whilst playing Mick Price in the World Snooker Championship on 21 April 1997; he completed the clearance in 5 minutes and 20 seconds—an average of one shot every 9 seconds. In fact, his six maximum breaks include the five fastest on record.

O'Sullivan's home club is the Grove Snooker Centre, situated in Romford, East London.

In 2002 O'Sullivan accused Hendry of bad sportsmanship in a previous match, adding: "I know if I do get beat and he comes up and does a moonie in front of me and goes 'Ne ne ne', I'll just look at him and say 'well done' and say 'go back to your sad little life'." [2]

After failing to defend his 2004 World Championship title, losing in his quarter-final, after being 8-2 up, to an exceptionally determined and dogged performance by Peter Ebdon, with many observers accusing Ebdon of deliberate slow play to disrupt O'Sullivan's fast game, he indicated to the press that he was unlikely to compete in the following season, and perhaps even retire from the sport altogether. However, in September 2005 he announced that he would play a truncated 2005/6 season, and spend some time playing eight ball pool in the USA after being chosen to compete on the elite International Pool Tour.

In the 2005 UK Championship match with Mark King, O'Sullivan sat with a wet towel draped over his head for most of the contest as he struggled against his opponent.[3]

It transpired, however, that the IPT pool tournament in which O'Sullivan was to make his debut clashed with the defence of his Premier League Snooker title. Plans were changed accordingly, with the Essex man going on to thrash old rival Stephen Hendry 6-0 with four century breaks. He went on to compete in the Grand Prix, losing 9-2 to an in-form John Higgins in the final, and all other ranking tournaments besides the Malta Cup. He did not win a ranking match until the World Championship.

2006/2007

He competed in the 2006 Masters Tournament, advancing to the final where he lost 10-9 to (again) John Higgins. He did compile the highest break of the tournament with 139.

The 2006 World Snooker Championship saw O'Sullivan's personal sponsor, 888.com, also become the event sponsor for the following 5 years. O'Sullivan entered the event in the inevitable position of favourite. Following a 10-4 defeat of Dave Harold, the Englishman struggled through a surprising second round match against Wales' Ryan Day, with O'Sullivan seemingly progressing due to the Welshman's mistakes rather than his own successes.

A similar quarter-final match ensued against another Welshman and two-time Crucible winner, Mark Williams. O'Sullivan initially set a blistering pace, leading 10-6 going into the final session. A fightback from Williams saw him take the next 5 frames, but O'Sullivan held his nerve to take the match 13-11 and face Graeme Dott in the semi-finals. In his post-match interview, the Essex man showed remarkable lack of confidence, and this would show in his next and final match of the tournament.

Dott took an early lead before O'Sullivan drew level, going 8-8 at the end of the second session. Cue-tip problems which had dogged the Englishman throughout the event recurred, including a controversial incident in which television footage appeared to show O'Sullivan deliberately removing the tip of his cue , securing a 15 minute break to re-tip, making a 124 break on his return. Tournament Director Mike Ganley accepted the player's assurance that the tip had simply fallen off, and no censure was made, drawing criticism from some fans and pundits. In an astonishing turn of events, Dott took all 8 frames of the third session, leaving him just one frame away from his second final in three years. The final session saw O'Sullivan stage a token fightback, taking three frames in a row before a mistake let Dott back in for an eventual clearance on the black, causing a significant upset.

O'Sullivan seemed gracious in defeat, handing his cue and case to a young man in the crowd , bringing to an end his nightmare of tip problems (BBC reports claimed he had used as many as 21 different tips during the fortnight, O'Sullivan later stating he had used 7 before arriving in Sheffield and a further 8 during the week) and promising to return next season with a brand new cue from expert cuemaker John Parris.

At the time of exit, he had made 5 century breaks and held the top two places in the highest break stakes, having scored both a 140 and 139.

O'Sullivan became a father in this year for the second time, to daughter Lily. He and his partner Jo have another child on the way.

In December 2006, in his quarter final match of the 2006 UK Championship against Stephen Hendry, O'Sullivan conceded in dramatic fashion part way into the sixth frame of the best of 17 match. He went 4-0 down after a superb start from Hendry, before taking a frame back to make the scoreline 4-1. At the start of the sixth frame O'Sullivan opened with a break of 24, before producing a poor positional shot from black to red which ultimately caused him to miss his next red. After this miss, O'Sullivan calmly shook the hand of both Hendry (saying to whom that he had "had enough") and the match referee Jan Verhaas, and walked out of the arena, stunning the audience and officials, not to mention Hendry. It also caused a disruption to the other quarter-final match between Graeme Dott and Steve Davis, when Davis was forced to sit down during the middle of playing due to the audience moving to the other side of the arena to view their match. Dott later added that he initially thought that O'Sullivan and Hendry were having a fight when he heard an audience member shout "Get a grip, Ronnie".

It was later confirmed that O'Sullivan had indeed forfeited the match, which was awarded 9-1 to Stephen Hendry, who proceeded into the semi-finals. The World Snooker Association announced that the fans who had travelled to watch what was expected to be classic match would get next-day tickets for free by way of compensation.

O’Sullivan issued a statement later that day on BBC2’s coverage apologising for his actions and stated that it would have been best to have continued on with the match. O'Sullivan also stated that he will be coming back to snooker and that he will be better than ever.

O'Sullivan returned to action at the 2007 Saga Insurance Masters, to a positive and apparently forgiving response from the audience in attendance. He won his first round match on 16 January against Ali Carter, 6-1, making two centuries. However, he then created more controversy by once again failing to attend a post-match press conference. He did record a short interview with Steve Davis for the BBC, stating that he was much happier than at the UK Championship and he felt he was playing well once again. Sir Rodney Walker later issued a statement that said Ronnie had been excused from dealing with the media because of the exceptional circumstances affecting him.

O'Sullivan went on to win the 2007 Saga Insurance Masters against Ding Junhui on 21 January. In the match he was noted for his good sportsmanship by Steve Davis for comforting Ding Junhui after the 12th frame. O'Sullivan was winning 9-3 at the time, and went on to win 10-3. By scoring 11 breaks of 50 or more Ronnie also added £550 to the amount that Saga Insurance have offered to donate to the Paul Hunter foundation.

Tournament wins

Ranking tournaments

• World Championship – 2001, 2004
• UK Championship – 1993, 1997, 2001
• British Open – 1994
• German Open – 1996
• Scottish Open – 1998, 2000
• China Open – 1996, 1999, 2000
• European Open – 2003
• Irish Masters – 2003, 2005, 2007
• Welsh Open – 2004, 2005
• totesport Grand Prix – 2004

Other tournaments

• Benson & Hedges Masters – 1995, 2005
• Scottish Masters – 1998, 2000, 2002
• Irish Masters – 2001
• Premier League Snooker – 2004, 2005, 2006
• Saga Insurance Masters (formerly the Benson & Hedges Masters) – 2007

Performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded.

Ranking tournaments	1992/93	1993/94	1994/95	1995/96	1996/97	1997/98	1998/99	1999/00	2000/01	2001/02	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07
Grand Prix/LG Cup	?	?	QF	1R	2R	3R	3R	QF	F	QF	F	2R	W	F	2R
UK Championship	?	W	QF	QF	1R	W	1R	QF	SF	W	QF	SF	2R	2R	QF (Forfeited match)
European Open/Malta Cup	?	?	SF	1R	1R	-	-	-	-	QF	W	QF	2R	A	-
Welsh Open	?	?	QF	2R	2R	4R	SF	3R	2R	2R	QF	W	W	2R	-
Non ranking tournaments
The Masters	-	?	W	F	F	QF	QF	QF	2R	QF	QF	F	W	F	W
World Championship
World Snooker Championship	1R	2R	QF	SF	2R	SF	SF	1R	W	SF	1R	W	QF	SF	-

A = did not participate in the tournament.

References

• O'Sullivan, Ronnie (2004). Ronnie: The Autobiography of Ronnie O'Sullivan (rev. ed. ed.). London: Orion. ISBN 0-7528-5880-7. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• O'Sullivan facts and statistics at WWW Snooker
• Profile at WorldSnooker.com
• Watch O'Sullivan's 1997 World Championship Record video
• International Pool Tour
• Official site
• Unofficial site
• his fastest 147 break 5.20min 1997 world championship
• another 147 break 2003 World championship