Ronnie O'Sullivan
Born	November 5 1975 (1975--) (age 33), Wordsley, West Midlands
Nationality	English
Nickname(s)	The Rocket The Essex Exocet The Magician
Professional	1992–
Highest ranking	#1 (3 years)
2007/08 ranking	#5
Career winnings	GB£5,161,560
Highest break	147 (6 times)
Tournament wins
Ranking	18
Non-ranking	19
World Champion	2001, 2004

Ronald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan (born December 5, 1975 in Wordsley, West Midlands)^[1][2] 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 grew up and still lives in Chigwell, Essex, although he has several other houses in different places across England, one of which is situated in Sedgley, West Midlands.

O'Sullivan is considered by many to be one of the most naturally-talented players in the history of the sport and is one of the most popular players on the circuit. He has won the World Snooker title on two occasions (2001 and 2004). O'Sullivan has been involved in a number of controversial incidents in his career.

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 at 15 and turned professional at 16. He won his first 38 matches as a professional – a record that still stands^[3] – on his way to the 1993 World Championship, where he was the youngest-ever player to qualify. He lost in the first round 10-7 to Alan McManus and ended his debut season ranked 57. 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, and starting one of the most prominent rivalries in the sport. In 1995, he won his first Masters title.

O'Sullivan is right-handed, but can play to a high standard with his left hand. 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.<ref name="SC" /> 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.^[4] Later in the tournament, the snooker governing body found him guilty of assaulting Mike Ganley, then a media official, now the tournament director.^[5] He was given a two-year suspended sentence, a GB£20,000 fine, and he was advised to donate £10,000 to charity.<ref name="Dec06" />

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.^[5] In November, he won his second UK title, beating 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.^[6]

O'Sullivan made it to the semi-finals of the 1999 Embassy World Championship, losing 17-14 to Hendry, in a match featuring many 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 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 particular match, O'Sullivan made five centuries (three in consecutive frames, equalling the record held by John Higgins), all to no avail, and Gray recorded four.

In 2001, O'Sullivan claimed his first World Championship title (dedicated to his father), 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 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'."^[7] In the match, 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. Hendry subsequently outplayed O'Sullivan and won convincingly 17-13. He didn't comment on his opponent's outburst following the match, although O'Sullivan did receive some criticism for his remarks. The latter later apologised to Hendry for his comments.^[8]

In 2003, following a season that saw him win the Scottish Masters, the European Open and Irish Masters, O'Sullivan's season ended on another disappointing note when he was knocked out of the World Championship in the first round for the third time in his career, 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.^[9] With Reardon's backing, O'Sullivan came into top form and claimed the World Championship, beating Graeme Dott 18-8 in the final. He lost the first five frames of the match, which he attributed to his opponent's (and O'Sullivan's former) coach's mind games – entering O'Sullivan's dressing room minutes before the match.^[10] He also beat Hendry 17-4 in the semi-final – the heaviest defeat in a World Championship semi-final.^[11] 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.^[12] After the match, O'Sullivan indicated to the press that he was unlikely to compete in the following season, and perhaps even would retire from the sport altogether.^[13] However, in September 2005, he announced that he would play a truncated 2005/2006 season and spend some time playing eight-ball in the United States after being chosen to compete on the elite International Pool Tour.^[14][15] 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 O'Sullivan going on to beat Hendry 6-0 with four century breaks.

O'Sullivan next won the season's Masters and Welsh Open titles. However, he missed the season's China Open on medical grounds; this was criticised by Anthony Hamilton, who said that O'Sullivan has a duty to promote the sport.^[16]

2005/2006

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.^[17]

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, he struggled through 13-11 in a surprising second-round match against Welshman Ryan Day. A similar quarter-final match ensued against Mark J. 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 O'Sullivan throughout the event recurred, including an 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.^[18] The incident drew criticism from his opponent,^[19] and from Steve Davis and John Parrott.^[20] 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.^[21] BBC claims he had used as many as twenty-one different tips during the fortnight;<ref name="21tips" /> O'Sullivan later stated he had used seven tips before arriving in Sheffield, and a further eight during the week,<ref name="cue" /> and that he would return next season with a new cue from cuemaker John Parris.

O'Sullivan's decision to not enter the Malta Cup cost him the number one rank for the following season.

2006/2007

On his way to losing the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy, where he lost 9-6 to Ding Junhui in the final, he defeated semi-final opponent Dominic Dale 6-0 in a record 53 minutes for a best-of-11 frame match.^[22]

In December 2006, in his quarter-final match of the 2006 UK Championship against Hendry, O'Sullivan conceded in dramatic fashion part way into the sixth frame of the best-of-17 match.^[23] He went 4-0 down after a strong start from Hendry, before taking a frame back. At the start of the sixth frame O'Sullivan opened with a break of 24, before leaving himself a difficult shot from black to red, ultimately missing his next red. After the miss, O'Sullivan calmly shook the hand of both Hendry (saying to whom 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 minor disruption to the other quarter-final match between Graeme Dott and Steve Davis, 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".^[24] It was later officially confirmed that O'Sullivan had forfeited the match, which was awarded 9-1 to Hendry. The World Snooker Association announced that the fans who had travelled to watch the match would get next-day tickets for free by way of compensation.^[25] 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'.^[24]

On 31 May 2007, World Snooker fined O'Sullivan £20,000 and docked him 900 ranking points over this incident.^[26]

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.^[27] 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.^[28] This decision was criticised by Shaun Murphy^[29] and Ken Doherty.^[30] 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. Ding 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. Since the table used did not have officially ratified pockets O'Sullivan's 7th competitive maximum does not count towards his official total, so his official tally so far remains at six.^[5] The organisers had initially offered a car to any player who completed a maximum break, 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. This was subsequently denied by World Snooker^[31] and O'Sullivan later retracted his accusation.^[32] In the end, O'Sullivan won the tie easily, 10-2. He also won his second-round match against Neil Robertson 13-10, before losing his quarter-final match against eventual tounament winner John Higgins 13-9.

To date, O'Sullivan has compiled 492 competitive centuries during his career, second only to Hendry's record 703, and has career earnings of £5,161,560.^[5][34]

Style of play

O'Sullivan plays a very fast, fluent and attacking game. He is a prolific breakbuilder and solid tactical player, although he has stated his disdain for long, drawn-out games, saying that it harms the game of snooker.^[35] He is a good front-runner, although tends to become demoralised when behind and not playing well, and is liable to lose multiple consecutive frames.^[36] When behind and needing snookers, he tends to concede more often than other players, although after Ray Reardon's coaching he does seem to carry on with the frame alot more than previous.

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.^[37] O'Sullivan sometimes plays with a variety of bridge hands.

Status

He is considered by many to be one of the most naturally-talented players in the history of the sport,^[38][5] with some labelling him a 'genius'; some have said that his highest level of play is above other players' highest levels of play;^[39][40] and a few have hailed him as the greatest player ever,^{[41][42][43][44]} although a temperamental streak sometimes lead to a lack of confidence or interest,^[1] and he has performed inconsistently throughout his controversial career,^[45] with observers noting the 'two Ronnies' aspect of his character.^[46][47]

O'Sullivan is one of the most popular players on the circuit^[48] – second only to Jimmy White – and is noted for being a 'showman'.^[49] He is perhaps the biggest draw in the game today,^[50] and has helped improve the image of snooker to the general public.^[51][52] O'Sullivan himself has stated his desire for entertaining the watching public, and that slow, gritty games put viewers off.^[53]

O'Sullivan is often compared to Alex Higgins and Jimmy White because of his natural talent popularity.^[54]

Tournament wins and career rankings

Season	Ranking
1993/94	57
1994/95	9
1995/96	3
1996/97	8
1997/98	7
1998/99	3
1999/00	4
2000/01	4
2001/02	2
2002/03	1
2003/04	3
2004/05	1
2005/06	1
2006/07	3
2007/08	5

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 – 1998, 2001, 2007
• Premier League – 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 (04/05), 2005 (05/06), 2006
• Benson and Hedges Championship – 1993
• Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge – 1996
• Riley Superstar International – 1997
• Champions Cup – 2000

Performance timeline

Ranking tournaments	92/93	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
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*
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	QF

Symbol	W	F	SF	QF	2R	1R	–	'‡''	*
Meaning	winner	runner-up	semi-final	quarter-final	second round (last 16)	first round (last 32)	no tournament	did not participate in the tournament	forfeited match

Personal life

Considered a perfectionist,^[55] O'Sullivan is publicly highly self-critical^[56] – even in victory.^[57] He has suffered from depression and various addictions.^[58] He has made several statements about his lack of enthusiasm and dislike for the sport, and has threatened to quit several times throughout his career.

In 1995, O'Sullivan was caught speeding, and was banned from driving for a year and fined £1,200.^[59]

O'Sullivan's father, Ronald John O'Sullivan, who owns a chain of Soho sex shops, is serving a life sentence for murder on the Isle of Sheppey,^[59] 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 not, 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 1996, O'Sullivan's Sicilian mother, Maria Antoinetta O’Sullivan, served seven months of a year-long jail sentence for tax evasion.^[60]

O'Sullivan broke up with former girlfriend Bianca Westwood in 2001.^[61] He has a daughter called Taylor-Ann from a previous relationship. He and current girlfriend Jo Langley – whom he met at Narcotics Anonymous^[59] – have a daughter, Lilly, born in February 2006, and a son, Ronnie, who was born on June 12, 2007.^[63]

In 2003, media sources carried reports that O'Sullivan had converted to Islam, but these allegations were proven to be false.^[64][65]

In 2004, he appeared on Top Gear as the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car, and finished with a time of 1:47.3 around the test track. He also succeeded in clearing a snooker table of four reds plus all the colours faster than The Stig was able to drive O'Sullivan's own Mercedes SL 500 around the track. His car has the registration plate "147" in reference to his holding of the five fastest ever 147 breaks.

2007/2008 season

Matches

These are Ronnie O'Sullivan's results in all ranking events and major invitational tournaments for the current season.

Date	Opponent	Competition	Round	Result
13 July	Ken Doherty	Euro-Asia Masters Challenge	Round-robin	1-2
13 July	Supoj Saenla	Euro-Asia Masters Challenge	Round-robin	2-1
13 July	Marco Fu	Euro-Asia Masters Challenge	Round-robin	0-2

Tournament record

Tournament	Result	Prize Money	Ranking Points	Highest Break	Century Breaks	First Game	Matches Won	Last Game
Euro-Asia Masters Challenge	Round-robin, 3rd place in Group 2	£0	0	117	1	1-2, Ken Doherty	1	0-2, Marco Fu
Shanghai Masters	Last 32 (Withdrew)	£2,750	700	-	0	-	0	-
Betfred Premier League			0
Pot Black Cup			0
Grand Prix
Northern Ireland Trophy
UK Snooker Championship
The Masters			0
Welsh Open
China Open
World Snooker Championship
Overall	-	£2,750	700	117	1	1-2, Ken Doherty	1	0-2, Marco Fu

References

Further reading

O'Sullivan, Ronnie; and Simon Hattenstone (2004). Ronnie: The Autobiography of Ronnie O'Sullivan, rev. ed., London: Orion. ISBN 0-7528-5880-7. 

External links

• Player profile and contact detail on 110sport.com
• Official website
• Profile at World Snooker
• O'Sullivan at WWW Snooker
• O'Sullivan at the Global Snooker Centre
• O'Sullivan at snookerclub.com
• Ronnie O'Sullivan's Biography

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association | World Number Ones in Men's snooker
Ray Reardon | Cliff Thorburn | Steve Davis | Stephen Hendry | John Higgins | Mark Williams | Ronnie O'Sullivan

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