Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan

Nickname	The Rocket
Professional	1992–
Highest ranking	1 (3 years)
Current ranking	5 (as of 11 November 2024)
Century breaks	1,274 (as of 13 November 2024)
Tournament wins
Ranking	18
World Champion	2001 and 2004

Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December, 1975 in Wordsley, West Midlands), known as Ronnie O'Sullivan, is an English professional snooker player, nicknamed "The Rocket" due to his rapid playing style, with other monikers including "The Essex Exocet" and "The Magician". He has won the World Snooker title on two occasions (2001 and 2004).

Career

Early 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 won his first 38 matches as a professional on his way to the 1992 World Championship - a record that still stands. He was the youngest ever winner of a ranking tournament when he won the 1993 UK Championship aged 17, beating Stephen Hendry in the final. In 1995, he won his first Masters title.

O'Sullivan is unique amongst the current ranks of top snooker professionals in that he can play at professional standard both right- and left-handed — frequently alternating between the two within the same frame. Whilst he lacks power in his left arm, the ambidextrous angle to his game has allowed him to take on shots with his left hand that would otherwise require awkward cueing with rest or spider. When he first displayed this ability in the 1996 World Championship 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 high level with his left hand. He played three frames of snooker against former world championship runner-up Rex Williams, winning all three. The charge of bringing the game into disrepute was subsequently dropped. He has commented that switching to his left hand helps him retain his focus and allows him to play fewer shots with the rest. Later in the tournament snooker governing body found him guilty of assaulting a member of the press and handed him a two-year suspended sentence and a £20,000 fine, and he was advised to donate £10,000 to charity.

On 21 April 1997, in the first round of the World Championship against Mick Price, he made the fastest-recorded maximum break, 5 minutes and 20 seconds, an average of one shot every 9 seconds. His seven maximum breaks include the five fastest on record. In November, he won his second UK title, beating Stephen Hendry 10-6.

After winning the 1998 Benson & Hedges Irish Masters against Ken Doherty, he was stripped of his title after a drugs test found marijuana in his system.

O'Sullivan made it to the semi-finals of the 1999 Embassy World Championship, losing 17-14 to Stephen Hendry, in a top-class match featuring thirteen century breaks between the two players. O'Sullivan's promising campaign in the 1999-2000 season (when he won three ranking titles) ended in disappointment, however — following his solid performance the previous year, he was a favourite for the 2000 world title, especially after Hendry's unexpected 10-7 first-round loss to Stuart Bingham. However, O'Sullivan was also eliminated in the first round by rookie David Gray, who came from 5-1 and 9-7 down to edge out O'Sullivan 10-9 for a place in the second round. In this match O'Sullivan made five centuries (three in consecutive frames, equalling the record held by John Higgins), and Gray recorded four.

In 2001, O'Sullivan claimed his first World Championship title, with an 18-14 victory over John Higgins, and his third UK title, with a 10-1 victory over Ken Doherty. He began the 2002/2003 season ranked Number 1.

In 2002, before his World Championship semi-final with Stephen Hendry, O'Sullivan accused Hendry of bad sportsmanship after Hendry's quarter-final victory over Ken Doherty; the same day O'Sullivan edged his quarter-final against Stephen Lee 13-10 to set up a meeting with Hendry in the semis. Referring to a previous match against Hendry in 1999 at a pre-match interview, he commented: "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'." In a semi-final match where there was no love lost between the players, O'Sullivan had the better of the first day's play, opening up a 8-5 lead; but on the second day Hendry rallied back to 12-12 going into the final session. The latter subsequently outplayed O'Sullivan and won convincingly 17-13. Hendry didn't comment on O'Sullivan's outburst following the match, and O'Sullivan received some criticism for his remarks. By the end of the 2002-2003 season, however, O'Sullivan had declared that he wanted to patch up his differences with Hendry.

In 2003 O'Sullivan's season ended on another disappointing note when he crashed out of the World Championship in the first round losing 10-6 to the unseeded Marco Fu, despite making another maximum 147 break in the match. This defeat saw him drop to number three in the rankings.

In 2004, O'Sullivan's father telephoned 1970s six-time World Champion Ray Reardon and asked if he could give O'Sullivan some advice. With Reardon's backing, O'Sullivan came into top form and claimed the World Championship, beating Graeme Dott 18-8 in the final. He also beat Stephen Hendry 17-4 in the semi-final – the heaviest defeat in a World Championship semi-final. He was ranked number one for the next two seasons.

2004/2005

In the 2005 World Championship, he lost to Peter Ebdon in the quarter-final. From 8-2 down, Ebdon began a comeback and eventually won 13-11, by playing in an exceptionally determined and dogged style, with many observers accusing him of deliberate slow play to disrupt O'Sullivan's fast game. After the match, O'Sullivan 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 in the United States after being chosen to compete on the elite International Pool Tour. 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 cue man going on to beat Stephen Hendry 6-0 with four century breaks.

O'Sullivan won the season's Masters and Welsh Open titles.

2005/2006

File:Ronnie O'Sullivan snookerchamp.jpg

A victorious O'Sullivan.

After a comprehensive 9-2 loss to John Higgins in the final of the 2005 Grand Prix, O'Sullivan reached the final of the Masters only to lose again (10-9) to Higgins. In his 2005 first-round UK Championship match with Mark King, O'Sullivan sat with a wet towel draped over his head for most of the contest.

The 2006 World Championship saw O'Sullivan's personal sponsor, 888.com, also become the event sponsor for the following 5 years. Following a 10-4 defeat of Dave Harold, the Englishman struggled through 13-11 in a surprising second-round match against Welshman Ryan Day. A similar quarter-final match ensued against Mark Williams. O'Sullivan led 10-6 going into the final session. A fightback from Williams saw him take the lead by winning the next 5 frames, but O'Sullivan held his nerve to take the match 13-11, and face Graeme Dott in the semi-finals.

Dott took an early lead before O'Sullivan drew level at 8-8 at the end of the second session. Cue-tip problems which had dogged the Englishman throughout the event recurred, including a incident in which television footage appeared to show O'Sullivan deliberately removing the tip of his cue. This secured him a 15-minute break to re-tip the cue, before he returned and made a 124 break. Tournament Director Mike Ganley accepted the player's assurance that the tip had simply fallen off, and no censure was made. The incident drew criticism from his opponent, and from Steve Davis and John Parrott. Dott then took all 8 frames of the third session, leaving him one frame away from his second final in three years. The final session saw O'Sullivan stage a minor fightback, taking three frames in a row before a mistake let Dott back in for an eventual clearance on the black.

After Dott's win, O'Sullivan gave his cue and case to a boy in the crowd. BBC claims he had used as many as twenty-one different tips during the fortnight; O'Sullivan later stated he had used seven tips before arriving in Sheffield, and a further eight during the week, and that he would return next season with a new cue from cue-maker John Parris.

2006/2007

In December 2006, in his quarter-final match in the UK Championship against Hendry, O'Sullivan conceded, at 1-4, in dramatic fashion during the sixth frame of the best-of-17 match. He started that frame with a break of 24 but a poor positional shot from black to red caused him to miss his next red. After that miss, O'Sullivan calmly shook hands with both Hendry (saying that he "had enough of it, mate") and the match referee Jan Verhaas, and walked out of the arena, stunning everyone present. It also caused a disruption to the other quarter-final match between Graeme Dott and Steve Davis, when the audience moved 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 Hendry. World Snooker announced that the fans who had travelled to watch the match would get free next-day tickets by way of compensation. O’Sullivan issued a statement later that day apologising and saying that he would be 'back on [his] feet fighting stronger and harder than ever very soon'.

O'Sullivan returned to action at the 2007 Saga Insurance Masters, to a mixed response from the audience. {-He was booed and clapped in equal measure!} He won his first round match on 16 January, 2007 against Ali Carter 6-1, making two centuries in the process. However, he then created more controversy by 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 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. This decision has been criticised by Shaun Murphy and Ken Doherty &ndash. O'Sullivan went on to win the tournament against Ding Junhui on 21 January, 2007. In the match he was noted for his good sportsmanship by Davis for comforting Ding after the 12th frame. The young Chinese player had become visibly upset by an overly partisan member of the crowd who was later ejected. O'Sullivan was leading 9-3 at the time and won the next frame for a 10-3 victory.

O'Sullivan went out of the Malta Cup with a 5-3 loss to Michael Holt in the first round. Later, during the Welsh Open, O'Sullivan announced that his technique would be undergoing major changes since he was unhappy with his recent performances. These included a 5-4 reverse against Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals. In his quarter-final match against Joe Swail at the Irish Masters, Ronnie knocked in a 147 on his way to a narrow 5-4 victory. The organisers had initially offered a car to any player who completed a 147, but were unable to keep their promise. He defeated John Higgins in another decider (6-5) later that evening, then easily overcame Barry Hawkins 9-1 in the final, becoming the first winner of the new Paul Hunter Trophy, awarded to him by Paul's widow Lyndsay.

Just before the 2007 World Championship, in which he had a first-round match with Ding Junhui again, O'Sullivan claimed that the draw was fixed, but this was subsequently denied by World Snooker. In the end, O'Sullivan won the tie easily, 10-2.

To date, O'Sullivan has compiled 475 competitive centuries during his career, only trailing Stephen Hendry, who has made an record-setting 703.

Status

He is considered by many to be one of the most naturally-talented players in the history of the sport; some have said that his highest level of play is above other players' highest levels of play; and a few have hailed him as the greatest player ever (including six-time World Champion Steve Davis and six-time runner-up Jimmy White), although a temperamental streak sometimes lead to a lack of confidence or interest, and he has performed inconsistently throughout his controversial career, with observers noting the 'two Ronnies' aspect of his character.

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
• Welsh Open – 2004, 2005
• Grand Prix – 2004

Other tournaments

• Masters – 1995, 2005, 2007
• Scottish Masters – 1998, 2000, 2002
• Irish Masters – 2001, 2007
• Premier League – 2004, 2005, 2006

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	QF	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	?	F	SF	1R	1R	-	-	-	-	QF	W	QF	2R	‡	1R
Welsh Open	?	?	QF	2R	2R	4R	SF	3R	2R	2R	QF	W	W	2R	QF
Non ranking tournaments
The Masters	-	1R	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	-

‡ = did not participate in the tournament.

Personal life

Considered a perfectionist, O'Sullivan is publicly highly self-critical — even in victory.

He has suffered from depression and various addictions.

O'Sullivan became a father in March 2006 for the second time, to daughter Lily. He and his girlfriend Jo Langley—whom he met at Narcotics Anonymous—are expecting another baby which is due to be born in June 2007.

His father, Ronald John O'Sullivan, a Soho sex shop owner is serving a life sentence for murder, having been convicted in 1992 of murdering the black bodyguard of Charlie Kray, brother of the Kray twins, the previous year. The trial judge gave a recommendation that he serve 18 years due to a claimed racial element to the killing, something he denied. The elder O'Sullivan had been in a Chelsea nightclub, and according to police embarked on an unprovoked attack during which he stabbed Kray's bodyguard and his brother. In recent years his family has claimed he acted in self defence, but at his trial he had claimed not to have been there at all. A 2003 sentence review accepted that Ronald is, and was, not racist, but found that the murder was a particularly vicious one and kept the 18 year term unchanged. Ronald stabbed the victim, and his injured brother, a considerable number of times with a knife that the prosecution stated he had brought along with him to the club. Ronnie claimed in his autobiography that his father picked up the knife, from the side of the bar, in the club during the course of a row over a drinks bill so as to defend himself.

In 1994, O'Sullivan's mother was jailed for a year for tax evasion, and in 1995, he was caught speeding, and was banned from driving for a year and fined £1,200.

Further reading

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

• Official website
• Profile at World Snooker
• O'Sullivan at WWW Snooker
• O'Sullivan at the Global Snooker Centre
• O'Sullivan at snookerclub.com