Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan
birthday	5th December 1975 (age 44)
place of birth	Wordsley
nationality	England
Nickname (s)	The Rocket, Mr. 147, The Chigwell Champion, The Essex Exocet
professional	since 1992
Prize money	£ 11,547,134 as of August 27, 2020
Highest break	147 (15 ×)
Century Breaks	1,061 (as of August 27, 2020)
Main tour successes
World championships	6th
Ranking tournament victories	37
Minor tournament victories	3
World rankings
Highest WRL place	1 ( 02/03 , 04/05 - 05/06 , 08/09 - 09/10 , Mar-Aug 2019)
Current WRL location	2 (as of August 17, 2020)

O'Sullivan 2012 in the final of the German Masters

Ronald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan OBE (born December 5, 1975 in Wordsley , West Midlands , Great Britain ) is an English snooker player . With six world titles and seven titles each in the UK Championship and the Masters , he is one of the most successful players in the history of snooker .

Between 2002 and 2019, O'Sullivan was number one in the world rankings four times . He is the record winner of the Triple Crown , the UK Championship, the Masters and ranked tournaments . He achieved more maximum breaks and more century breaks on the Snooker Main Tour than any other participant.

O'Sullivan's nickname, The Rocket , came about because of his fast play. In addition to other speed records, he achieved the fastest maximum break of all time in 1997, according to the Guinness World Records, with 5 minutes and 8 seconds. O'Sullivan was also one of the first players to maneuver the cue with both right and left hands to avoid using an auxiliary cue .

Career

Rise to the top of the world

O'Sullivan has already enjoyed success in the junior and amateur field and scored his first maximum break at the age of 15 at the English Amateur Championship . In 1992 he became a professional snooker player. He won his first 38 qualifying games (a record that is still valid today) and qualified as the third youngest player of all time for the World Cup in 1993 . There he lost to Alan McManus in round one , but a few months later, a week before his 18th birthday, he won the UK Championship in 1993, the second most important tournament in professional snooker. To this day, he holds the record as the youngest winner of a ranking tournament. In the same season he won the British Open in 1994 and also made it to the final of the European Open 1993/94 , which made him one of the top 16 in the world rankings at the end of the season and was considered a future world champion.

Emerging addiction problems

In the following two seasons, 1994/95 and 1995/96 , he did not win a ranking tournament -  but in 1995 the prestigious Masters - and fell back from third to eighth place in the world rankings. Between tournaments, he increasingly consumed alcohol and cannabis and had periods when he ate excessively. At times he weighed up to 25 kilograms more, which he worked off again with equally excessive fitness exercises.

In 1996 two more tournament victories followed, at the Asian Classic and the German Open . However, he also made negative headlines when he was brutalized against Len Ganley's son Mike Ganley at the World Cup and was fined £ 20,000 (plus a £ 10,000 donation to a charity). Another controversy arose when O'Sullivan left the end of a frame in public for the first time during the World Cup and his opponent, Canadian Alain Robidoux , took this as an insult and refused to give him the usual handshake after the match.

In 1997 he set another record at the World Cup at the Crucible Theater , which is still valid today. He achieved the fastest maximum break ever played in an official tournament in 5:08 or 5:20 minutes . Nevertheless, he was eliminated in the second round. A few months later he won the UK Championship for the second time with a 10: 6 final win over Stephen Hendry. In 1998 he also won the final at the Irish Masters 9: 3 against Ken Doherty , but he was disqualified after a positive doping test ( cannabis ). In 1999 and 2000 O'Sullivan achieved three more maximum breaks.

After working on his drug problem with various sports psychologists, he went to London's Priory Hospital for a month-long withdrawal treatment in 2000 .

First world title (2001)

After the hospital stay, he stopped taking intoxicants, but continued to struggle with depression , panic attacks and anxiety. Nevertheless, he played in the 2000/01 season, the most successful of his career to date. He reached the finals in a number of tournaments, including the Grand Prix , the China Open , the Scottish Masters and the Irish Masters . At the end of the season he even made it into the final of the World Snooker Championship for the first time . In a competitive game, he defeated John Higgins 18:14.

After the 2001/02 season , O'Sullivan was No. 1 in the world rankings for the first time. Although he missed the title defense at the World Cup (he was defeated by Stephen Hendry in the semi-finals), he won a major ranking tournament with the UK Championship. After he was eliminated from Marco Fu after a maximum break in the first round at the World Snooker Championship in 2003 , he fell back to 3rd place in the world rankings. Previously, he was able to add two further ranking tournament victories to his collection of titles: the Irish Masters 2002 and the European Open 2003 .

Second world title (2004)

O'Sullivan managed to return to number 1 in the world rankings after the end of the 2003/04 season . For the first time he won the Welsh Open , at the British Open he was defeated by Stephen Hendry in the final. At the Masters he already looked like the sure winner, but Paul Hunter managed to catch up to 10: 9 in the final despite a gap of 1: 6 and 7: 9. At the end of the season, The Rocket won the 2004 World Cup in a convincing manner . In the quarter-finals he defeated Anthony Hamilton 13: 3, in the semifinals Stephen Hendry 17: 4 and in the final Graeme Dott 18: 8.

In 2005 he missed defending his title at the World Cup when he lost to Peter Ebdon in the quarterfinals. With victories at the Grand Prix 2004 , the Welsh Open 2005 and the Irish Masters 2005 , O'Sullivan defended his lead in the world rankings. In addition, there was his second success at the Masters and his third in the Premier League Snooker .

Third world title (2008)

O'Sullivan caused confusion when he gave up the quarter-final match against Stephen Hendry at the UK Championship 2006 when he was 4-1 and left the venue. The association reacted with a fine and the deduction of ranking points. His only tournament victory on the Main Tour in the 2006/07 season was the 2007 Masters . He won the final with 10: 3 against fellow favorites Ding Junhui , who managed a maximum break in the course of the tournament. So O'Sullivan could reciprocate for the final defeat at the Northern Ireland Trophy 2006 at the beginning of the season; In this tournament he set a record for a best-of-9 match in the round of 16 against Ali Carter when he won all five frames through Century Breaks in a 5-2 win and also scored a maximum break. In 2007, these were his only two finals. In addition, he won an invitation tournament with the Kilkenny Irish Masters 2007, in which he again managed a 147 break. He played two more in the 2007 Snooker Legends Challenge Series against Stephen Hendry; so he got three unofficial maximum breaks within a week. At the end of the season, O'Sullivan was number 5 in the world rankings.

The 2007/08 season was extremely successful for the Englishman, he was in the finals of a ranking tournament on the Main Tour four times. When Grand Prix 2007 in Scotland and the Welsh Open in 2008 , he came second in the two major tournaments, the UK Championship and the final World Cup , he won the 2008 title. At the last tournament he also achieved his ninth maximum break on the tour; so he had more to show than any other player. However, he had to share the £ 147,000 award with his final opponent Ali Carter. For the first time in a tournament, two players managed to break 147 points. After the season, O'Sullivan took the lead in the world rankings again. At a press conference in 2008, during the China Open just before the World Cup, O'Sullivan made several lewd remarks, for which he was again punished.

The highlights of the 2008/09 season were victories at the Northern Ireland Trophy and the Masters. At the 2009 World Cup , he won the first round against Stuart Bingham , but was eliminated in the round of 16 with 11:13 against Mark Allen . Nevertheless, O'Sullivan led the world rankings for the fifth time after the 2008/09 season. At the start of the 2009/10 season he won the Shanghai Masters with a 10-5 final victory over Liang Wenbo . At the Masters in London he was in the final for the sixth time in seven years, which he lost to Mark Selby, however, after a lead with just 9:10. At the World Cup he lost to Selby again, this time in the quarterfinals, with 11:13.

The 2010/11 season was less successful. At the World Open 2010 O'Sullivan reached the final, which he lost to Neil Robertson . At the World Cup he was eliminated again in the quarterfinals, this time against eventual world champion John Higgins. On April 18, 2011, with a break of 113, he was the third player to reach 100 Centuries at world championships.

Fourth world title (2012)

O'Sullivan with the German Masters Cup, 2012

In the 2011/12 season he not only won the tenth Premier League title of his career, he also won the German Masters . At the World Championships in Sheffield he then dominated from the first round, also won the final with 18:11 clearly against Ali Carter and thus secured his fourth world championship title. In an interview at the award ceremony that followed, he denied the resignation rumors that had increased after Stephen Hendry's withdrawal. But he announced a six-month break.

After the season he was inducted into the Snooker Hall of Fame and named "Player of the Year" by the Snooker Writers . In addition, he was accepted into the “Club 147” of the season for his maximum break.

Time out (2012/13) and fifth world title (2013)

At the beginning of the 2012/13 season , O'Sullivan was the only player who had not signed his contract with the World Snooker Federation . So he couldn't take part in the main tour. The allegations raised in this context (e.g. by the Daily Star ) that O'Sullivan was only concerned with the money were rejected as untrue. Rather, the modalities would have given him a headache. Among other things, the contract stipulated that O'Sullivan would have to appear four days before the start of the tournament and also have to give autographs for hours.

On August 7, 2012, O'Sullivan announced that he had now signed the contract and would take part in the season. He will play his first tournament at the International Championship in China at the end of October . He explained: “I have taken a six month break as announced and am looking forward to playing again. I am happy to be back and to meet my fans soon. "

After the Shanghai Masters 2012 , he dropped out of the top 16 for the first time since joining in the 1994/95 season . Slipping to 17th place was the result of his refusal to sign the player contract because he missed tournaments ( Wuxi Classic , Australian Goldfields Open , Shanghai Masters and some PTC tournaments ) and was therefore unable to score. He played his first game after the break at the third PTC event in Gloucester. He lost to Simon Bedford in round one 3-4.

On October 26, 2012, O'Sullivan stated on his homepage that for health reasons and on the advice of his doctor, he could not participate in the International Championship in Chengdu after all . Finally, O'Sullivan took a " sabbatical year " from professional snooker during the 2012/13 season . At another press conference on February 26, 2013 in London, he finally agreed to participate in the World Cup; he will defend his title there.

During the World Cup, O'Sullivan made a declaration on May 1 for his "sabbatical year" and return to the World Cup shortly before the entry deadline. He needs money to be able to pay school fees for his children for the last "two or three" semesters. Basically, snooker would no longer give him anything, he had already put enough heart and soul into the sport. He announced that he would withdraw again after the World Cup. At the World Cup itself he was back in the final (as the first defending champion since Ken Doherty 1998) after defeating Judd Trump in the semifinals 17:11. In the 23rd frame of the game, O'Sullivan was cautioned by referee Michaela Tabb for an obscene gesture.

In the seventh frame of the second session of the final against Barry Hawkins O'Sullivan achieved his 128th Century with 103 points; he broke Stephen Hendry's Crucible record with 127 Centuries. With three more Centuries in the match, he raised the record to 131 Centuries. As the first player after Stephen Hendry (1996) and the third overall ( Steve Davis also managed this), he successfully defended his title. O'Sullivan is also the first player to reach six Centuries in a final. With 13 Centuries he played more than any other player at the World Cup. In the interview at the award ceremony, he kept the question of his future in snooker open. He will definitely play a few smaller tournaments, but doesn't know yet whether he will be at the next World Cup.

2013/14 season

After missing a few tournaments at the beginning of the 2013/14 season , he won his third title at a PTC tournament in August with the Paul Hunter Classic . In November, he also won the new Champion of Champions invitational tournament , which replaced Premier League snooker that season. In the final, he beat last year's Premier League winner, Stuart Bingham , 10: 8.

The UK Championship 2013 ended Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarterfinals.

O'Sullivan at his book signing 2014 in the Berlin Tempodrom

In the Masters final on January 19, 2014 O'Sullivan defeated Mark Selby 10: 4. Already in the quarter-finals he set a new world record of 556 unanswered points (the old record was 495 points) with his 6-0 victory. On March 1, 2014, he reached the final of the Welsh Open with a spectacular 6-2 victory (he scored three Centuries) over Barry Hawkins. There he defeated Ding Junhui 9: 3. In the last frame of the tournament he played his twelfth official maximum break, taking the sole lead in the list of players with the most maximum breaks . At the World Cup , the defending champion reached the final for the third time in a row, but lost 14:18 against Mark Selby.

2014/15 season

In November 2014, he defended his Champion of Champions title when he defeated his compatriot Judd Trump 10: 7 in the final. At the UK Championship he managed the 13th maximum break of his career in his round of 16 game against Matthew Selt in early December . He then won the tournament with a narrow 10: 9 final victory over Judd Trump.

At the Masters in January 2015, he played in the first round against Ricky Walden in the 6th and 10th frame with 100 and 121 points, his 774th and 775th Century. He set Stephen Hendry's record. In the quarter-finals he succeeded in the first frame against Marco Fu with 101 points the 776th and in the 4th frame of the semi-final game against Neil Robertson with 101 points his 777th Century; so he was now the sole record holder in these statistics. In the semifinals he was eliminated 6-1 against Neil Robertson. In March, he reached a tournament final for the third time at the World Grand Prix and for the third time Judd Trump was the opponent. This time he lost 7:10.

2015/16 season

First he canceled all tournaments in Asia at the beginning of the season, later, completely surprisingly, the UK Championship . In December 2015, however, he announced that he would compete in the Masters 2016 and German Masters 2016 . In qualifying for the latter, however, he failed in the second round. At the Masters in London he initially looked insecure and won his round of 16 just 6: 5 against Mark Williams. In the quarterfinals he then defeated Mark Selby 6-3. He won the subsequent semi-finals with a little spectacular 6: 4 against Stuart Bingham. In the final, he defeated a poorly playing Barry Hawkins 10: 1, where he managed the feat of winning ten frames in a row. His next tournament was the Welsh Open 2016 . Here it ran from the beginning; in the first game, however, he caused discussions when he apparently deliberately did not play a possible maximum break, allegedly because the prize money seemed too low to him. He played his way into the final with a lot of spectacle, where he initially struggled against Neil Robertson. After the first session he was 3: 5 behind. In the second session, however, he won six frames in a row to make it 9: 5. At the World Cup he failed in the second round with 12:13 to Barry Hawkins.

Season 2016/17

After O'Sullivan had again canceled the first tournaments of the season, he took part in the Shanghai Masters at the end of September , where he failed in the second round to his compatriot Michael Holt . In contrast, he was successful in the subsequent qualifying games in Preston, England for the European Masters and the International Championship . At the Northern Ireland Open 2016 he was defeated in the round of 16 to Kyren Wilson 3-4 . At the European Masters , which was held for the first time , he reached the final with a 6-0 win over Neil Robertson, in which he was defeated by Judd Trump 8: 9. He also reached the final of the UK Championship , where he lost 7:10 to Mark Selby. At the Masters 2017 , O'Sullivan won the final 10: 7 against Joe Perry and secured his seventh title at this tournament by defending his title. He exceeded the record he had shared with Stephen Hendry since last year. O'Sullivan dedicated his victory to Paul Hunter, who died in 2006 and whose name the Masters Cup has been bearing since that tournament.

At the World Cup he was eliminated in the quarterfinals with 10:13 against Ding Junhui. As in 2016 at the Welsh Open, he narrowly missed a possible maximum break in this game with 146 points. He himself denied doing this on purpose.

Season 2017/18

As the first tournament of the season, he played the 2017 Hong Kong Masters . In the final he was defeated by Neil Robertson 3: 6. In October, O'Sullivan won the English Open with a 9-2 final win over Kyren Wilson .

At the Shanghai Masters he also made it into the final with wins over Gary Wilson (5: 3), Joe Perry and Mark Williams (5: 1 each), Barry Hawkins (5: 0) and John Higgins (6: 2), in which he clearly prevailed against Judd Trump with 10: 3. His 5-10 final win over Shaun Murphy at the UK Championship meant his 18th Triple Crown title and sixth UK Championship title, each breaking Stephen Hendry's record. In February 2018 he won the World Grand Prix . He beat Ding Junhui 10: 3 in the final. At the Players Championship in March 2018, he defeated Shaun Murphy 10: 4 in the final. With his fifth title of the season, he set the record for Stephen Hendry, Ding Junhui and Mark Selby for most ranked tournaments won in a season. At the subsequent China Open , he played his 14th maximum break in the 5th frame in the first round. Nevertheless, he lost the match against Elliot Slessor 2-6 . In the first round of the 2018 World Snooker Championship , O'Sullivan defeated Stephen Maguire 10: 7. Despite the elimination of world champion Mark Selby, O'Sullivan could not win his sixth title, because he was eliminated in the next round with 9:13 against Ali Carter.

Season 2018/19

O'Sullivan started the season at the Shanghai Masters ; he won the invitation tournament in the final against Barry Hawkins 11: 9. At the English Open he scored his 15th maximum break in the second round in the fourth frame in a 4-0 win over Allan Taylor . In the semifinals he was eliminated against Mark Davis with 1: 6. He won his second invitation tournament of the season at the Champion of Champions . After victories over Stuart Bingham, John Higgins and the defending champion Shaun Murphy, O'Sullivan defeated Kyren Wilson in the final after a clear lead 10: 9. At the Northern Ireland Open he lost 7: 9 in the final against Judd Trump. He won the UK Championship for the seventh time in December - in the final he defeated Mark Allen 10: 6 - making him the sole record winner of the tournament. He also won his 19th triple crown event , surpassing Stephen Hendry's record. At the Masters 2019 , O'Sullivan reached the final for the 13th time, but lost it significantly with 4:10 against Judd Trump. At the World Grand Prix he was eliminated in the first round against Marco Fu, at the Welsh Open he failed in the third round to Alexander Ursenbacher . The Players Championship in March 2019 won O'Sullivan for the second time in succession, in the final he beat Neil Robertson with 10: 4th In the last frame of the finale, he managed the 1000th Century Break of his career. At the Tour Championship 2019 , after a 13:11 in the final against Neil Robertson, he won his 36th title in a ranking tournament and thus equaled Stephen Hendry's record, before he beat Judd Trump in the decision-making frame in the semifinals with 10: 9 after a long deficit . After this tournament victory he was again number 1 in the world rankings . At the 2019 World Cup , O'Sullivan was eliminated in the first round for the first time since 2003, losing to amateur James Cahill 8:10.

Sixth world title (2020)

At the beginning of the season, O'Sullivan won the Shanghai Masters for the third time in a row, beating Shaun Murphy 11: 9 in the final . Then he was still in the final of the Northern Ireland Open , which he lost to Judd Trump as in the previous year; in addition, O'Sullivan reached the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions and the Welsh Open . The remaining results of the season were mostly mixed, so that he could not qualify for the Players Championship and the Tour Championship and was only ranked 6th in the world rankings shortly before the end of the season. At the snooker world championship , however, he started the tournament with a clear 10: 1 win over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh , setting a new record for the fastest world championship game. It only took 108 minutes. Shaun Murphy held the previous record with 149 minutes. His subsequent games against Ding Junhui and Mark Williams were much closer , before he was only able to defeat Mark Selby at 17:16 in the semifinals . Thus O'Sullivan reached his seventh World Cup final, in which he defeated his compatriot Kyren Wilson 18: 8. His sixth world title was the 37th overall ranking tournament victory of his career, thus setting a new record, at the same time it was the 20th success in a triple crown tournament. He is the first player to win the Triple Crown's three tournaments at least six times. There are 19 years between winning his first and currently last title, something that only the first world champion Joe Davis achieved between 1927 and 1946.

Personal

His father Ronnie sr. was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and sentenced to long imprisonment in September 1992. The sentence ended after 18 years in November 2010. Ronnie O'Sullivan himself claims in his autobiography that it was a matter of self-defense. In his opinion, the verdict was so high because his father refused to testify; he also doubts the racist background of the crime, as stated by the court .

In 1994, O'Sullivan's mother was arrested for tax evasion and later sentenced to one year in prison. She was released after seven months.

In June 2008, after eight years, O'Sullivan separated from his partner Jo Langley, with whom he had a daughter and a son (Ronnie Jr.). Another daughter comes from a previous relationship. O'Sullivan also has a sister seven years younger than him. He is currently in a relationship with actress Laila Rouass .

O'Sullivan is close friends with the British musician Ron Wood and the British artist Damien Hirst , who regularly sit in the audience at games.

Others

O'Sullivan used to play pool too . He represented Europe in 1996 and 1997 at the 9-ball tournament Mosconi Cup .

He is also a passionate runner, as he starts for the London athletics club Woodford Green with Essex Ladies . In 2008 he set his personal best of 34:54 minutes over the 10-kilometer distance; he was one of the 1500 fastest runners in Great Britain on this route.

O'Sullivan cites the positive effects on his depression as the main reason for his intense running (more than 50 miles per week). It helps keep her under control and is the best therapy he's ever had.

In late 2015, O'Sullivan was appointed Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II . Before him, only Steve Davis and Terry Griffiths had been awarded the second stage of the British National Order as snooker players.

With the support of author Emlyn Rees, O'Sullivan has already published three detective novels: Framed (2016), Double Kiss (2017) and The Break (2018). In all three books, he partially processes experiences from his past. In addition, he previously published two autobiographies together with the author Simon Hattenstone: Ronnie (2003) and Running (2013), in which he sometimes very personally addresses his psychological problems and the sporting challenges that come with them. Together with Rhiannon Lambert, O'Sullivan also published Top of Your Game (2019), a fitness and nutrition guide.

Victory Statistics

Ranking tournament victories

• UK Championship - 1993 , 1997 , 2001 , 2007 , 2014 , 2017 , 2018
• British Open - 1994
• English Open - 2017
• Asian Classic - 1996
• German Open - 1996
• Scottish Open - 1998 , 2000
• China Open - 1999 , 2000
• World Snooker Championship - 2001 , 2004 , 2008 , 2012 , 2013 , 2020
• European Open - 2003
• Irish Masters - 2003 , 2005
• Welsh Open - 2004 , 2005 , 2014 , 2016
• Grand Prix - 2004
• Northern Ireland Trophy - 2008
• Shanghai Masters - 2009 , 2017
• German Masters - 2012
• World Grand Prix - 2018
• Players Championship - 2018 , 2019
• Tour Championship - 2019

Minor ranking tournament victories

• Players Tour Championship 2011/12 - Event 1
• Kay Suzanne Memorial Trophy 2011
• Paul Hunter Classic 2013

Invitation tournament victories

• Masters - 1995 , 2005 , 2007 , 2009 , 2014 , 2016 , 2017
• Extra Challenge - 1993
• Benson and Hedges Championship - 1993
• Charity Challenge - 1996
• Superstar International - 1997
• Premier League - 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 (spring), 2005 (winter), 2006, 2007, 2008 , 2010 , 2011
• Scottish Masters - 1998 , 2000 , 2002
• Irish Masters - 2001 , 2007
• Hamm Invitational - 2008
• Power Snooker Event - 2010
• Champion of Champions - 2013 , 2014 , 2018
• Shanghai Masters - 2017 , 2018 , 2019

Team competitions

• Nations Cup - 2000

Amateur tournaments (selection)

• British Under-16 Championship - 1988
• IBSF U21 World Snooker Championship - 1991

Final results

Ranked tournament games: 53 (37 wins)

Legend (gew: verl) World Championships (6: 1) UK Championship (7: 1) other (24:14)

the numbers in brackets indicate the number of wins (> 1)

space	No.	year	competition	Final opponent	Result
winner	1.	1993	UK Championship	Stephen Hendry	10: 6
finalist	1.	1993	European Open	Stephen Hendry	5: 9
winner	2.	1994	British Open	James Wattana	9: 4
finalist	2.	1995	Thailand Open	James Wattana	6: 9
finalist	3.	1995	British Open	John Higgins	6: 9
winner	3.	1996	Asian Classic	Brian Morgan	9: 8
winner	4th	1996	German Open	Alain Robidoux	9: 7
winner	5.	1997	UK Championship (2)	Stephen Hendry	10: 6
winner	6th	1998	Scottish Open	John Higgins	9: 5
winner	7th	1999	China Open	Stephen Lee	9: 2
winner	8th.	2000	Scottish Open (2)	Mark Williams	9: 1
finalist	4th	2000	Grand Prix	Mark Williams	5: 9
winner	9.	2000	China Open (2)	Mark Williams	9: 3
winner	10.	2001	World Snooker Championship	John Higgins	18:14
winner	11.	2001	UK Championship (3)	Ken Doherty	10: 1
winner	12.	2003	European Open	Stephen Hendry	9: 6
winner	13.	2003	Irish Masters	John Higgins	10: 9
finalist	5.	2003	British Open	Stephen Hendry	6: 9
winner	14th	2004	Welsh Open	Steve Davis	9: 8
winner	15th	2004	World Snooker Championship (2)	Graeme Dott	18: 8
winner	16.	2004	Grand Prix	Ian McCulloch	9: 5
winner	17th	2005	Welsh Open (2)	Stephen Hendry	9: 8
winner	18th	2005	Irish Masters (2)	Matthew Stevens	10: 8
finalist	6th	2005	Grand Prix	John Higgins	2: 9
finalist	7th	2006	Northern Ireland Trophy	Ding Junhui	6: 9
finalist	8th.	2007	Grand Prix	Marco Fu	6: 9
winner	19th	2007	UK Championship (4)	Stephen Maguire	10: 2
finalist	9.	2008	Welsh Open	Mark Selby	8: 9
winner	20th	2008	World Snooker Championship (3)	Allister Carter	18: 8
winner	21st	2008	Northern Ireland Trophy	Dave Harold	9: 3
finalist	10.	2008	Shanghai Masters	Ricky Walden	8:10
winner	22nd	2009	Shanghai Masters	Liang Wenbo	10: 5
finalist	11.	2010	World Open	Neil Robertson	1: 5
winner	23.	2012	German Masters (2)	Stephen Maguire	9: 7
winner	24.	2012	World Snooker Championship (4)	Allister Carter	18:11
winner	25th	2013	World Snooker Championship (5)	Barry Hawkins	18:12
winner	26th	2014	Welsh Open (3)	Ding Junhui	9: 3
finalist	12.	2014	World Snooker Championship	Mark Selby	14:18
winner	27.	2014	UK Championship (5)	Judd Trump	10: 9
winner	28.	2016	Welsh Open (4)	Neil Robertson	9: 5
finalist	13.	2016	European Masters	Judd Trump	8: 9
finalist	14th	2016	UK Championship	Mark Selby	7:10
winner	29	2017	English Open	Kyren Wilson	9: 2
winner	30th	2017	Shanghai Masters (2)	Judd Trump	10: 3
winner	31.	2017	UK Championship (6)	Shaun Murphy	10: 5
winner	32.	2018	World Grand Prix	Ding Junhui	10: 3
winner	33.	2018	Players Championship	Shaun Murphy	10: 4
finalist	15th	2018	Northern Ireland Open	Judd Trump	7: 9
winner	34.	2018	UK Championship (7)	Mark Allen	10: 6
winner	35.	2019	Players Championship (2)	Neil Robertson	10: 4
winner	36.	2019	Tour Championship	Neil Robertson	13:11
finalist	16.	2019	Northern Ireland Open	Judd Trump	7: 9
winner	37.	2020	World Snooker Championship (6)	Kyren Wilson	18: 8

Season overview

(the table is updated after the end of a tournament)

	93/94	94/95	95/96	96/97	97/98	98/99	99/00	00/01	01/02	02/03	03/04	04/05	05/06	06/07	07/08	08/09	09/10	10/11	11/12	12/13	13/14	14/15	15/16	16/17	17/18	18/19	19/20
Ranking position	57	9	3	8th	7th	3	4th	4th	2	1	3	1	1	3	5	1	1	3	11	9	19th	4th	5	10	14th	2	1
Ranked tournaments
China Championship	not carried out																								VF	N	N
European Masters	not carried out																							F.	N	N	N
English Open	not carried out																							3R	S.	HF	4R
International Championship	not carried out																			N	2R	VF	N	3R	1R	N	N
Northern Ireland Open	not carried out																							4R	3R	F.	F.
Northern Ireland Trophy	not carried out													1R	F.	VF	S.	not carried out
World Open	N	VF	1R	2R	3R	3R	VF	F.	VF	VF	2R	S.	F.	VF	F.	VF	2R	F.	N	N	N	n / A		N	N	N	QV
UK Championship	S.	VF	VF	1R	S.	1R	VF	HF	S.	VF	HF	2R	1R	VF	S.	2R	HF	1R	2R	N	VF	S.	N	F.	S.	S.	4R
Scottish Open	QV	3R	1R	VF	S.	2R	S.	2R	2R	3R	VF	not carried out												VF	VF	N	VF
European Open / Malta Cup	F.	HF	1R	1R	n / A	1R	n / A		VF	S.	VF	2R	N	1R	not carried out
German Masters	n / A			1R	S.	HF	not carried out											N	S.	N	QV	VF	QV	1R	N	N	N
World Grand Prix	not carried out																					F.	1R	2R	S.	1R	VF
Welsh Open	N	VF	2R	2R	4R	HF	3R	2R	2R	VF	S.	S.	1R	VF	F.	2R	HF	1R	HF	N	S.	3R	S.	2R	VF	3R	HF
Players Championship	not carried out																	NQ	N	NQ	2R	NQ	NQ	VF	S.	S.	NQ
Tour Championship	not carried out																									S.	NQ
China Open	not carried out					2R	S.	S.	VF	n / A		N	1R	HF	1R	VF	1R	1R	VF	N	N	N	N	2R	1R	N	n / A
World Championship	1R	VF	HF	2R	HF	HF	1R	S.	HF	1R	S.	VF	HF	VF	S.	2R	VF	VF	S.	S.	F.	VF	2R	VF	2R	1R	S.
Invitation tournaments
Masters	1R	S.	F.	F.	VF	VF	VF	2R	VF	VF	F.	S.	F.	S.	1R	S.	F.	1R	VF	N	S.	HF	S.	S.	VF	F.	N
Champion of Champions	not carried out																				S.	S.	N	F.	F.	S.	HF
Shanghai Masters	not carried out														N	F.	S.	1R	2R	N	N	1R	N	2R	S.	S.	S.
Premier League snooker	RR	RR	RR	S.	RR	HF	HF	S.	S.	HF	N	S.	S.	S.	S.	S.	F.	S.	S.	N	not carried out

1. ↑ from the 2010/11 season the ranking position is displayed at the beginning of the season
2. ↑ The tournament has been held as an invitation tournament since the 2018/19 season

Legend:

• xR = defeat in x. round
• VF = quarter finalist
• HF = semi-finalist
• F = finalist
• S = winner
• N = not started
• NQ = not qualified
• QV = defeat in qualification

Publications

• With Simon Hattenstone: Ronnie. The Autobiography of Ronnie O'Sullivan. Orion, London 2003, ISBN 0-7528-5582-4 (hardcover); Orion, London 2004, ISBN 0-7528-5880-7 (paperback).
  • Ronnie. The autobiography of Ronnie O'Sullivan. Translated from the English by Ulf Felgenhauer. Dragonstars-Eventmanagement, Fürth 2008, ISBN 978-3-00-025561-8 (paperback).
• With Simon Hattenstone: Running. The Autobiography. Orion, London 2013, ISBN 0-7528-9880-9 (hardcover); Orion, London 2014, ISBN 1-4091-4739-8 (paperback).
  • Running. The autobiography. Translated from the English by Johannes Kratzsch. Copress-Edition, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-7679-1167-3 (hardcover).
• With Emlyn Rees: Framed. Orion, London 2016, ISBN 978-1-4091-5130-2 (English, paperback).
• With Emlyn Rees: Double Kiss. Macmillan, London 2017, ISBN 978-1-5098-6398-3 (English, paperback).
• With Emlyn Rees: The Break. Macmillan, London 2018, ISBN 978-1-5098-6401-0 (English, paperback).
• With Rhiannon Lambert: Top of Your Game. Bonnier, London 2019, ISBN 978-1-78870-091-7 (English, paperback).

Web links

Commons : Ronnie O'Sullivan  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• O'Sullivan's fastest 147 break in 5:20 minutes at the 1997 World Cup on YouTube
• Profile of Ronnie O'Sullivan on CueTracker
• Ronnie O'Sullivan in the snooker Database (English)
• Erik Eggers: The god of small balls. In: taz . April 29, 2004.
• Constantin Wißmann: Ronnie O'Sullivan, the depressive genius with the black eyes. In: The time . February 4, 2011.

Remarks

1. ↑ According to official information from the World Association and the Guinness Book of World Records 5:08 minutes; the broadened specification of 5:20 minutes is based on different evaluations of the TV recording.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ronnie O'Sullivan. In: worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association , accessed December 12, 2017 .  
2. ↑ Profile of Ronnie O'Sullivan on CueTracker (as of October 20, 2018).
3. ↑ 100+ Centuries - Snooker Info (as of November 11, 2018).
4. ↑ Ranking Records: World Number One. WPBSA , accessed March 24, 2019 .  
5. ↑ Administrator: The 3 best snooker players of all time ›HL-SPORTS. July 28, 2015, accessed on August 8, 2020 (German). 
6. ↑ Chris Musson: Why 'Rocket' Ronnie O'Sullivan almost refused to sink final black to seal 147 at World Open snooker championship. In: Daily Record. September 21, 2010, accessed March 12, 2019.
7. ^ ^{A b} Various Snooker Records ( Memento from May 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Chris Turner's Snooker Archive.
8. ^ ^{A b} Ronnie O'Sullivan, Simon Hattenstone: Ronnie. The autobiography of Ronnie O'Sullivan. Translated from the English by Ulf Felgenhauer. Dragonstars Event Management, Fürth 2008, ISBN 978-3-00-025561-8 .
9. ^ Top five controversial incidents ( Memento from December 1, 2010 on WebCite ).
10. ↑ Bad Boys: Ronnie O'Sullivan . BBC Sport, May 7, 2003, accessed March 12, 2019.
11. ↑ Fastest 147 break in snooker. In: guinnessworldrecords.com. Guinness World Records , April 21, 1997, accessed February 18, 2019 .  
12. ^ Clive Everton: O'Sullivan's five centuries put him in Belfast frame ( English ) In: theguardian.com . November 9, 2007. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
13. ^ David Hendon: O'Sullivan under fire after making lewd remarks. In: The Guardian. March 27, 2008, accessed March 12, 2019.
14. ^ Calendar of events in the history of English Billiards and Snooker on Snookergames.co.uk (accessed May 23, 2012).
15. ↑ Birgit Riezinger: Genius beats madness. In: Wiener Zeitung. May 8, 2012, accessed March 12, 2019.
16. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan defends himself against allegations . In: Sportal.de . July 1, 2012. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. Retrieved on July 6, 2012.
17. ^ Ronnie O'Sullivan returns ( February 8, 2013 memento on the Internet Archive ) on Eurosport.com (accessed August 25, 2012).
18. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan here again . snookernachrichten.blogspot.de. August 7, 2012. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. Retrieved on August 25, 2012.
19. ↑ Ranking History on Snooker.org (accessed October 5, 2012).
20. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan drops out of snooker top 16 for first time . September 26, 2012. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012. Retrieved on October 5, 2012.
21. ↑ Ranking list according to Shanghai Masters 2012 (PDF; 114 kB) September 24, 2012. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved on October 5, 2012.
22. ^ Ronnie O'Sullivan withdraws from International Championship ( English ) In: BBC.com . February 26, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
23. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan ( English ) In: Worldsnooker.com . World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association . Retrieved December 23, 2019.
24. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan will defend his World Snooker title at the Crucible ( English ) In: RTE.ie . February 26, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
25. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan reaches Crucible semis - and issues another quit threat. In: The Guarduian. May 1, 2013, accessed March 12, 2019.
26. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan is warned over 'obscene' gesture. In: The Guardian. May 3, 2013, accessed March 12, 2019.
27. ↑ Welsh Open - O'Sullivan with a maximum on the title ( Memento from March 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
28. ↑ 775. Century break of his career: O'Sullivan sets Hendry's record . In: Spox.com . January 13, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
29. ^ Adam Shergold: Ronnie O'Sullivan equals Stephen Hendry's record of 775 centuries as 'Rocket' defeats Ricky Walden at the Masters . In: Daily Mail Online . January 13, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
30. ↑ Masters . In: livescores.worldsnookerdata.com . World snooker. Archived from the original on January 20, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
31. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Joe Perry to win record seventh Masters title. In: The Guardian. January 22, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
32. ^ Ronnie O'Sullivan loses to Ding at world championship despite 146 break. In: The Guardian. April 26, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
33. ^ Matches - World Snooker Live Scores. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 19, 2017 ; accessed on November 18, 2017 (English). 
34. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan sets new 147 record: Snooker star hits 14th maximum break of his career in China Open. In: Evening Standard. April 3, 2018, accessed April 21, 2018 . 
35. ↑ Match Result - World Championship 2018 ( Memento from April 29, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
36. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan ensures a second maximum at the English Open. Retrieved October 18, 2018 . 
37. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan - The Millennial Man. In: worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association , March 10, 2019, accessed March 10, 2019 . 
38. ↑ Centuries on World Snooker. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
39. ↑ O'Sullivan celebrates victory in record time. August 3, 2020, accessed August 16, 2020 . 
40. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan Sr freed after 18 years in prison ( English ) BBC Sport . November 19, 2010. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
41. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan gets engaged to Holby City actress Laila Rouass ( English ) In: The Sun . February 3, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
42. ↑ Ronnie O'Sullivan: Running is a good addiction for me ( English ) BBC Sport. April 18, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
43. ↑ Athlete Profile: Ronnie O'Sullivan ( English ) Power of 10. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
44. ↑ Why does running help relieve depression? ( English ) BBC News. February 12, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
45. ^ O'Sullivan Awarded OBE. World Snooker, December 30th, 2015.