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Ronnie O'Sullivan
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Ronald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan (born December 5, 1975 in Wordsley, West Midlands) nicknamed "The Rocket" due to his rapid playing style, is an English professional snooker player, and the reigning 888.com Snooker World Champion. He has been World Champion on three occasions and is second on the all time prize money list with career earnings of around £5.8 million. He has won a total of 20 ranking titles.
O'Sullivan is considered by many fans, critics and fellow professionals such as Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry as the most naturally talented player in the history of the game. He has also been involved in a number of controversial incidents during his career, being a popular figure for many British tabloids.
Career
Early careerO'Sullivan grew up and still lives in the exclusive Manor Road area in Chigwell, Essex and attended Wanstead High School.
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Timeline
Encyclopedia
Ronald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan (born December 5, 1975 in Wordsley, West Midlands) nicknamed "The Rocket" due to his rapid playing style, is an English professional snooker player, and the reigning 888.com Snooker World Champion. He has been World Champion on three occasions and is second on the all time prize money list with career earnings of around £5.8 million. He has won a total of 20 ranking titles.
O'Sullivan is considered by many fans, critics and fellow professionals such as Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry as the most naturally talented player in the history of the game. He has also been involved in a number of controversial incidents during his career, being a popular figure for many British tabloids.
Career
Early careerO'Sullivan grew up and still lives in the exclusive Manor Road area in Chigwell, Essex and attended Wanstead High School. He
started his career at an early age. He first achieved a break at the age of 10, making a 117; scored a 147 or maximum break at 15; and turned professional at 16. He won his first 38 matches as a professional – a record that still stands – on his way to the 1993 World Championship, where he remains 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.
In the 1996 World Championship, snooker's governing body found him guilty of assaulting Mike Ganley, then a media official, now the tournament director. He was given a two-year suspended sentence and a £20,000 fine, and 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 (and also his first), 5 minutes and 20 seconds, an average of one shot every 9 seconds. In November, he won his second UK title, beating Hendry 10-6 in the final.
After winning the 1998 Benson & Hedges Irish Masters against Ken Doherty, he was stripped of his title after a drugs test found cannabis 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 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 Doherty. He began the 2002/2003 season ranked number 1.
In 2002, before his World Championship semi-final with Hendry, O'Sullivan accused him of bad sportsmanship after the latter's quarter-final victory over 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 the match, O'Sullivan had the better of the first day's play, opening up an 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. Hendry didn't comment on his opponent's outburst following the match, although O'Sullivan did receive some criticism for his remarks from Steve Davis and Clive Everton. O'Sullivan later apologised to Hendry for his comments.
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. With Reardon's backing, O'Sullivan came into top form and claimed the World Championship, beating Graeme Dott very convincingly in the final by 18 frames to 8. He lost the first five frames of the match, however, 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. He also beat Hendry 17-4 in the semi-final – the heaviest defeat ever in a World Championship semi-final. He was ranked number one for the next two seasons.
2004/2005In 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 would retire from the sport altogether. 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. 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.
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.
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 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. 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 cuemaker John Parris.
O'Sullivan's decision to not enter the Malta Cup cost him the number one rank for the following season.
2006/2007On 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.
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. 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 him 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". 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. 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'.
On 31 May 2007, World Snooker fined O'Sullivan £20,000 and docked him 900 ranking points over this incident.
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 O'Sullivan had been excused from dealing with the media because of the exceptional circumstances affecting him. This decision was criticised by Shaun Murphy and Ken Doherty. 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 to Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals. In his quarter-final match against Joe Swail at the Irish Masters, O'Sullivan 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 maximum does not count towards his official total. 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 Lyndsey.
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 and O'Sullivan later retracted his accusation. In the end, O'Sullivan won the tie easily, 10-2. He also won his second-round match against Robertson 13-10 (despite losing six frames in a row at one time), before losing his quarter-final match against eventual tournament winner John Higgins 13-9.
2007/2008O'Sullivan withdrew from the first ranking event of the season, the Shanghai Masters, citing back problems which doctors advised him not to travel on. He also chose not to enter the invitational Pot Black tournament.
O'Sullivan made the final of the Grand Prix, but was beaten 9-6 by Marco Fu.
During the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy O'Sullivan set a new record after compiling five centuries in a 5-2 defeat of Ali Carter. This also included his seventh, official competitive 147 maximum break. O'Sullivan went out of the tournament in the next round after being beaten by Fergal O'Brien.
On December 2, 2007, he won a fourth consecutive, and record seventh in total, Premier League title by beating John Higgins in the final by a score of 7-4.
On December 15, 2007, O'Sullivan compiled his eighth maximum break in competition in the deciding frame of his Maplin UK Championship semi-final against Mark Selby at Telford, equalling Hendry's record. In doing so, O'Sullivan also became only the second person in professional competition to compile a maximum in the deciding frame of a match. Hendry had made the first against O'Sullivan in the 1997 Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge final. O'Sullivan is also the second player (after John Higgins) to make 147 breaks in two consecutive ranking tournaments (Northern Ireland Trophy 2007 and Maplin UK Championship 2007). He then went on to win the tournament easily beating Stephen Maguire 10-2 in the final (from 8-0 up), and picked up a £100,000 cheque for winning his first ranking tournament in almost three years.
At the 2008 Masters on January 12, 2008, Stephen Maguire edged out O'Sullivan in a tense final frame to win their first-round match at Wembley. In the battle of the top two players in the provisional world rankings, O'Sullivan fought back from 4-1 down to level at 5-5 and take the match into a deciding 11th frame. But the Essex player missed a relatively simple final blue with the rest, when poised to win the match, allowing his Scottish opponent to reach the quarter-finals.
After withdrawing from the invitational Malta Cup O'Sullivan returned at the Welsh Open in February. Playing a good tournament, he reached the final against Selby. Although O'Sullivan led 8-5, Selby won the last four frames to beat him 9-8.
O'Sullivan was present at this year's China Open, in Beijing, where he lost 5-4 to Marco Fu in the first round. However, at the press-conference, which followed the match, O'Sullivan was heard making some lewd remarks inviting a member of the press to perform fellatio on him, then laughing with the World Snooker media spokesman. O'Sullivan also joked about the size and girth of his penis, before simulating a sexual act on his microphone. In June 2008, the WPBSA punished O'Sullivan for his behaviour by docking the appearance money and world ranking points that he had earned from the event.
He compiled a record breaking ninth competitive 147 break at the Crucible against Mark Williams at the 2008 World Championships. It was his third of the season, and also his third maximum at the Crucible. No other player has made more than one maximum at The Crucible. It was the fourth maximum to be compiled in a winning frame of a match (following Stephen Hendry's against O'Sullivan in the decider of the 1997 Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge final, Williams' maximum at The Crucible in 2005 world championship and O'Sullivan's in a decider against Mark Selby in their semi-final tie at the 2007 Maplin UK Championship). Interviewed by Steve Davis just after beating Williams 13-7 he said "I can finally buy a Bentley Continental GT". Soon after potting the final black, snooker legend and commentator, Dennis Taylor, labelled Ronnie O'Sullivan as a "total genius". To add insult to injury for Williams it was also the frame that relegated him from snooker's elite top 16, meaning he will have to qualify for next season's tournaments. However, O'Sullivan's 147 was equalled by Ali Carter in the same tournament - halving his prize money.
O'Sullivan defeated Liu Chuang, Mark J. Williams, Liang Wenbo and Stephen Hendry on route to the final of the tournament. He then beat Carter 18-8 for the title on May 5th. In an interview after his third world title win, he hinted again that he may not play in the 2008/2009 season, but also stated that he may go on to pursue many more world titles.
Playing styleO'Sullivan plays in a fast and attacking manner. 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. 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. When behind and needing , he tends to concede more often than other players, although after Ray Reardon's coaching he does seem to carry on with the frame a lot more than previously.
O'Sullivan is right-handed, but can play to a high standard with his left hand. While not quite possessing the same power in his left arm, being ambidextrous enables him to attempt shots with his left hand that would otherwise require awkward cueing with a or . O'Sullivan sometimes plays with a variety of
When he first displayed this left-handed 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.
StatusHe is considered by many to be the most naturally-talented player in the history of the sport, with many such as Steve Davis labelling him a 'genius'; some have said that his highest level of play is above any other player's highest level of play; and many have hailed him as the greatest player ever, although a temperamental streak sometimes lead to a lack of confidence or interest, and he has performed inconsistently throughout his controversial career thus far, with observers noting the 'two Ronnies' aspect of his character.
According to Stephen Hendry after his defeat at the World Snooker Championship 2008, "O'Sullivan is the best player in the world by a country mile".
O'Sullivan is also the most popular player on the circuit – along with Jimmy White, another very popular English player – and is noted for being a 'showman'. He is perhaps the biggest draw in the game today, and has helped improve the image of snooker to the general public. O'Sullivan himself has stated his desire for entertaining the watching public, and said that slow, gritty games put viewers off.
He has often been compared to Alex Higgins and Jimmy White because of both his natural talent and popularity.
O'Sullivan has compiled over 500 competitive centuries during his career, second only to Hendry.
Performance timeline| Ranking tournaments | 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 | 2007/08 |
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| Northern Ireland Trophy | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | F | QF | | Shanghai Masters | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | British Open | W | F | SF | 1R | QF | 3R | SF | QF | SF | 3R | F | SF | - | - | - | | LG Cup/Grand Prix | - | QF | 1R | 2R | 3R | 3R | QF | F | QF | QF | 2R | W | F | 3R | F | | UK Championship | W | QF | QF | 1R | W | 1R | QF | SF | W | QF | SF | 2R | 2R | QF | W | | Irish Masters | - | 1R | QF | SF | DQ | QF | SF | W | QF | W | QF | W | - | - | - | | Scottish Open | - | - | - | - | W | 2R | W | 2R | 2R | 3R | - | - | - | - | - | | 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 | F | | Thailand Open/Thailand Masters/China Open | - | F | 2R | SF | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | SF | - | - | - | 2R | SF | 1R | | Non ranking tournaments | | | The Masters | - | W | F | F | QF | QF | QF | 2R | QF | QF | F | W | F | W | 1R | | World Championship | | | World Snooker Championship | 2R | QF | SF | 2R | SF | SF | 1R | W | SF | 1R | W | QF | SF | QF | W |
- - = Did not take part
- W = Winner
- F = Finalist (Runner up)
- SF = Semi Finalist
- QF = Quarter Final
- xR = Lost in Round x.
- DQ = Disqualified
Tournament wins and career rankings
Ranking tournaments- World Championship – 2001, 2004, 2008
- UK Championship – 1993, 1997, 2001, 2007
- 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, 2007
- Benson and Hedges Championship – 1993
- Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge – 1996
- Riley Superstar International – 1997
- Champions Cup – 2000
Personal lifeConsidered a perfectionist, O'Sullivan is publicly highly self-critical – even in victory. He suffers from depression and has had various addictions. 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.
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, having been convicted in 1992 of murdering the 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. O'Sullivan is a director of one of his family`s companies, Ballaction Ltd, and holds his own investment property through RMOS Property Ltd, which made a profit of £177,664 in 2006.
O'Sullivan broke up with former girlfriend Bianca Westwood in 2001. He has a daughter called Taylor-Ann from a previous relationship. He and girlfriend Jo Langley – whom he met at Narcotics Anonymous – have a daughter, Lilly, born in February 2006, and a son, Ronnie, who was born on June 12, 2007. He was reported to have split with Jo in early June 2008.
In 2003, media sources carried reports that O'Sullivan had converted to Islam, but despite his self-professed interest in the faith these reports were proven to be false.
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, with its "147" number plate, around the track.
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