Pro Snooker Blog

Name: Ronnie O’Sullivan

DOB: December 5th 1975

Nationality: English

Turned Pro: 1992

Highest Ranking: #1 (2002/3, 2004-6, 2008-2010)

Current Ranking: #3

Highest Break: 147×9

Career Highlights: Three times World Champion, Four times UK Champion, Four times Masters Champion, 2004 Grand Prix Champion

Official Website: http://www.ronnieosullivan.tv/

In short

Without doubt one of the most popular players ever to have played the game, three times world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan is also one of the greatest, statistically behind only Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry.

Famous for his fast and furious play, O’Sullivan is adept with his left arm as well as his right, something that in the past has proved controversial as well as brilliant. In fact that statement can always be applied to Ronnie, as brilliant as he is on the table, he is often in the headlines for those things he does off it. It is this mix of astounding play and incidents that makes him arguably the most intriguing character in the sport and keeps people coming back for more.

O’Sullivan takes his 22nd ranking event title, the 2009 Shanghai Masters

As a player though, when he is at the top of his game there are few who can live with him at the moment and there can be no doubt that his all-round game is far more solid than it was in the 1990’s. Back then while his long-potting was probably more consistent than it is today, his tendency to take on too many difficult shots and his questionable temperament arguably prevented him from fully maximising his potential. Nowadays however he has largely overcome these problems and remains the bookmaker’s favourite for every tournament that he enters…

Early career

Having played snooker from a very early age, O’Sullivan demonstrated his talent for the sport with a break of 117 aged just ten. He followed this up with a witnessed 142 two years later before winning the British U16 championship the following year aged 13. His first 147 came in the 1991 English Amateur Championship and following victory in the IBSF World Under-21 Championship in the same year it was only a matter of time before he turned professional.

Going pro

Having done just that in 1992, O’Sullivan remarkably won his first 38 matches, a record unlikely ever to be broken with the qualifying structure now as it is. With his best result being a quarter-final, he ended his debut season ranked 57th and it wasn’t long before he was much higher.

The following season he won the prestigious UK Championship, beating the two best players in the world, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry on the way. A second title in the form of the British Open came his way soon after and his results were good enough to move him up to 9th in the rankings at the end of the season.

O’Sullivan wins his first ranking title in 1993

The next two years failed to produce a ranking event for O’Sullivan but he did win the 1995 Benson & Hedges Masters and his results were good enough to move him up to number 3 in the rankings. In 1997 however he was to enjoy his most successful season to date, winning two ranking event titles in Germany and Asia as well as the Matchroom Premier League. He capped off the year with the fastest ever 147 break, made in just five minutes and 20 seconds in his first round at the 1997 World Championship. His run in the tournament was to be shortlived however as though he was to lose 13-12 to Darren Morgan in the next round.

O’Sullivan’s record maximum, blink and you will miss it.

Controversy came his way in the 1997/8 season when he was disqualified from the Benson & Hedges Irish Masters when he was found to have failed a drugs test. As has become a running theme during his career, an unhappy O’Sullivan stated that he threatened to retire from the sport, though this proved to be unfounded.

World title

A disappointing couple of seasons then followed before he was to finally capture snooker’s greatest prize. Coming into the 2001 World Championship with five titles already under his belt, it was up to John Higgins to stop him from making it six in the final. It was not to be however as O’Sullivan managed to open up a four frame lead that Higgins never managed to get back, eventually winning 18-14.

O’Sullivan takes his first World Championship

Although he failed to defend the title in 2002, (losing to Stephen Hendry in the semi-finals following what was one of the finest matches ever seen), O’Sullivan reached another milestone in his career by ending the season as the number one ranked player.

His second world crown was to come two years later in 2004 when he thrashed Scotland’s Graeme Dott 18-8 in what was a largely one sided affair. This victory was notable for O’Sullivan’s increasingly measured approach, down in part to the help of six-times world champion Ray Reardon who gave him some words of advice.

This form continued into the next season, his most successful to date in terms of ranking event victories with three from the seven that he entered. He again failed to successfully defend his world title however, this time losing 13-11 to 2002 winner Peter Ebdon. Again following this match O’Sullivan threatened to quit the game, though as previously this never materialised.

Barren spell

What was to follow was a barren run for O’Sullivan, who was not to win another ranking event until the 2007 UK Championship. The intervening years were anything but quiet however with him attracting controversy for walking out of his 2006 UK quarter-final against Stephen Hendry when 4-1 down. He also attracted criticism during that year’s world championship when he removed the tip from his cue during his match with Graeme Dott. This meant that that there had to be an unscheduled break for him to fit a new one, though it did him little good as he lost the match 18-11.

O’Sullivan’s amazing concession to Hendry in the 2006 UK Championship

He did fare better in the invitational events however, managing to retain his stranglehold over the invitational Premier League and take his third Masters title with a dominant victory over China’s Ding Junhui in 2007.

Return to form and third world title

The 2007/8 season was his most consistent for while and saw him reach the final of four world ranking events, winning two. The first of his victories was to come in the UK Championship in Telford where having beaten Mark Selby with a 147 break in the deciding frame of his semi-final, he thrashed Scotland’s Stephen Maguire 10-2 in the final.

He then followed this up in May 2008 with his third world title, secured against another man making his debut in a final, Ali Carter. These victories ensured that he moved back to number 1 in the rankings for the first time since 2006.

2008/9

At the start of 2008/9 he picked up where left off by taking his 21st ranking event victory, this time in the Northern Ireland Trophy against Stoke’s Dave Harold. He looked like becoming only the third man to win three consecutive ranking events (after Hendry and Davis), when he followed this up by reaching the Shanghai Masters final soon after, but was upset by world number 35 Ricky Walden who took his maiden ranking event title with a shock 10-8 victory.

Since then in the ranking events Ronnie has not quite found his best form, losing out to Bristol youngster Judd Trump in the Grand Prix, Joe Perry in the UK Championship and Marco Fu in the Welsh Open. Many expected him to find his best form in Sheffield when he began the defence of his world title but it was not to be as he slipped to a 13-11 defeat to Mark Allen in the last 16. Due to his excellent 2007/8 season and his consistency the following season however, his opening round win over Stuart Bingham ensured that he would remain at the top of the rankings for a second consecutive season.

O’Sullivan in action at the 2009 China Open

Despite this mixed form in the ranking events, he has continued to enjoy success in the invitational events however, taking a fifth straight victory in the Premier League whilst taking his fourth Wembley Masters crown by ending the reign of defending champion Mark Selby in the final. This victory was made all the more remarkable by the fact that he did it with a new cue after smashing his old one up during a practice session the week previously.

How many ranking titles he will end his career with is anybody’s guess, though he stated after his Northern Ireland success that he thinks that he can overhaul Steve Davis’ tally of 28 titles before he retires. Now 33 years old, whether he can catch Stephen Hendry’s all-time record of 36 is less certain, though he won’t be too far off by the time he hangs up his cue. Either way, his place among the greats is secure and like Davis and Hendry, he is a player that will never be forgotten.

2009/10

Despite starting 2009/10 with yet another new cue, Ronnie got his season off to the perfect start by winning his 22nd ranking event title out in Shanghai. Having come through a tough draw which put him up against the likes of Marco Fu, John Higgins and Graeme Dott, all players who have favourable record against him, he comfortably had the better of first-time finalist Liang Wenbo in the final to give his chances of retaining the world number one spot a significant boost.

Unfortunately however it was to be John Higgins, his main rival for that top spot, who would be his nemesis in the next two tournaments, defeating him 5-4 in the last 16 of the Grand Prix and then 9-8 in the semi-finals of the UK Championship. The latter in particular was full of drama as he recovered from 8-2 down to force  deciding frame, only to see a missed pink pave the way for a Higgins counter.

Away from the ranking events O’Sullivan moved into the final of the Premier League as is the norm but this time he was to finish second best as world number three Shaun Murphy ended his run to take the title for the first time. Incredibly this marked the first time that O’Sullivan had not won the tournament since the shot clock was introduced back in 2005.

The second half of Ronnie’s season continued in much the same manner as he reached the final of the Wembley Masters only to see his title defence ended by Mark Selby who produced an impressive comeback from 9-6 down to win.

At the Welsh Open he again lost out to Higgins in the semi-final before he crashed out of the China Open at the last 32 stage to wildcard Tian Pengfei, a shock result that confirmed that Ronnie’s reign as world number one would come to an end in 2010/11, Higgins taking his place.

Ronnie rounded off his season at the World Championship with a run to the quarter-finals where his bid for a fourth Crucible crown was ended by his nemesis Selby who produced yet another comeback against him, this time from 9-5 down to win 13-11. In truth O’Sullivan never really seemed to be quite at ease during the tournament, indeed during the season and it will be interesting to see how he responds next season.

Tournament Victories:

Ranking Event wins (22)

Event	Year
World Championship	2001, 2004, 2008
UK Championship	1993, 1997, 2001, 2007
Grand Prix	2004
British Open	1994
Regal Welsh Open	2004, 2005
German Open	1996
Regal Scottish Open	1998, 2000
European Open	2003
Northern Ireland Trophy	2008
China Open	1996, 1999, 2000
Irish Masters	2003, 2005
Shanghai Masters	2009

Non-Ranking Event wins (21)

Event	Year
Wembley Masters	1995, 2005, 2007, 2009
Scottish Masters	1998, 2000, 2002
Champions Cup	2000
Riley Superstar International	1997
Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge	1996
Benson & Hedges Championship	1993
Premier League	1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 (04/05), 2005 (05/06), 2006, 2007, 2008
Irish Masters	2001, 2007