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Player Profile: Ronnie
O'Sullivan
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Category: |
Professional |
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First Name: |
Ronnie |
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Last Name: |
O'Sullivan |
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Town / Country: |
Chigwell, Essex, England |
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DoB: |
5 December 1975 |
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Club: |
Ilford |
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High Break: |
147 |
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Ranking: |
1st
(2004/5-2005/6) |
Biography: |
Ronnie O'Sullivan has been making snooker headlines since he was
10 years old and knocked in a break of 117. Two years later he
made a witnessed total clearance of 142 and became British
under-16 champion the following year when still only 13. A year
later he reached the quarterfinals of the under-19 event but
lost his under-16 title at the semi-final stage. Still only 14
he was winning prizes of up to £1000 and at 15 he made his first
147 in the 1991 English Amateur championship but he went on to
lose in the final. He did go on to win the IBSF World Under-21
event in 1991 when still only 15 and it was a surprise when he
lost in the last 16 of the World Amateur of that year. In just
about his last event as an amateur he lost to Stephen Lee in the
Southern final of the 1992 English Amateur championship.
So, in the summer of 1992, Ronnie joined the professional ranks
and began the long qualifying process. He made an immediate
impact by winning 38 straight matches, a record unlikely ever to
be beaten, and qualified for the final stages of all but one of
the ranking events. Even at this early stage he was being picked
as a future world champion. He went on to reach one quarterfinal
and five times got to the last 32 including the world
championship. In non-ranking events he won his first
professional title in the Nescafe Extra Challenge and reached
the semi-final of the Humo Masters as well as the same stage in
the minor-ranking Strachan Challenge and finished that debut
season ranked 57th.
He began the 1993/94 season by reaching the Dubai Classic
semi-final and then went on to the UK championship. It was still
a week or so before his eighteenth birthday and having seen off
Steve Davis 9-6 in the last eight he beat Stephen Hendry in the
final by 10-6 to become the youngest ever winner of a ranking
event. He went on to reach the final again in his very next
event, the European Open, but this time Hendry got his revenge
but Ronnie collected his second ranking title when he beat James
Wattana to win the British Open. At the Crucible, although he
did win his first round match, he lost heavily in his next to
John Parrott but he had done enough to leap into the top 16 at
number 9 after just two seasons as a professional. He also
collected the Benson & Hedges Championship which gave him a wild
card to the Masters at Wembley but there he failed to get past
his opening match.
Despite two finals, two semi-finals and three quarters, he
failed to add another ranking event victory in 1994/95 but he
did take the £120,000 winners cheque in the Benson & Hedges
Masters giving him, already, two of snooker's big three titles.
He had now moved up to third in the rankings. In the next
season, although he won the non-ranking Charity Challenge and
again got to the final at Wembley and to the semis of the world
championship, he again failed to win a ranking event and dropped
down to eighth. During these two seasons he had to watch John
Higgins, who had joined the professional ranks at the same time
as Ronnie, take much of the glory.
He got back on the winning road in 1996/97 taking both the
German Open and Asian Classic titles on the ranking circuit. He
also won the Matchroom league and lost in the finals of both the
Charity Challenge and the Masters. It was at Sheffield, in the
world championship, however that he made his biggest headlines
that season. In his opener against Mick Price, Ronnie thrilled
the world with a magnificent 147 maximum in just 5 minutes and
20 seconds. He collected £165,000 for this effort but sadly lost
in the deciding frame in the next round to Darren Morgan. He was
now ranked seventh and in 1997/98 he collected a second UK title
as well as the Scottish Open but still he could not get beyond
the semi-finals in the Embassy. He did beat Ken Doherty in the
final of the Benson & Hedges Irish Masters only to be
disqualified after failing a drug test and his only other
victory came in the Far East in the Riley Superstars
International. He had now got back up to third in the rankings
and now Ronnie, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins and Mark Williams
were beginning to be known as 'The Big Four' and were expected
to dominate every event.
A poor season by Ronnie's standards followed. Having pulled out
of the UK his best was again reaching the world semi-finals
although he did pick up the Scottish Masters title and, for the
third year running, lost in the final of the Charity Challenge.
By now Ronnie was often talking of giving up the game and
sometimes it did seem that his heart was not in it. He did
collect two more ranking titles in 1999/2000, the China
International and Scottish Open, but ended that term on a real
low having lost in his opening match at the Crucible. On the
non-ranking circuit, the Champions Cup had replaced the Charity
Challenge but for Ronnie the result was the same - runner-up. He
nevertheless retained his fourth spot in the rankings and helped
England capture the Nations Cup.
The 2000/01 season started on a positive note with victory in
the Champions Cup. This was swiftly followed by winning the
Regal Masters in Motherwell after which he got to the Grand Prix
final, losing to Mark Williams. Then it was the semis in the UK
before going out to the Far East where he retained his China
International title. Back home again things did not go so well
on the ranking tour but he won the Irish Masters and the Premier
League. At the Crucible for the world championships, Ronnie was
beginning to run into some awesome form prompting Peter Ebdon,
after his quarterfinal defeat, to compare him with Mozart! He
met arch rival John Higgins, who was also in tremendous form, in
the final, the outcome of which was in doubt right up to the
final session. Ronnie prevailed 18-14 and he had finally
achieved what had been predicted for him in those early teenage
years even though it had taken him longer than most people
expected. A wonderful season, in which he had amassed total of
six titles, saw his prize money rise to over £2,750,000.
All Ronnie had left to achieve was the world number one position
in the rankings and he started the next season well with a
semi-final in the British Open. He then made his fifth maximum
break in the new LG Cup which he followed with his third UK
title. He only failed to get past the last sixteen twice but a
late surge from Mark Williams meant that the top ranking
position was still in doubt as the players arrived at the
Crucible. After a great run in defence of his title, Ronnie lost
in the semis to Stephen Hendry but had done enough to clinch
that number one ranking. He rounded off the season with a third
Premier League title.
Ronnie is, in the opinion of most pundits, the most naturally
talented player the game has ever seen although some favour Alex
Higgins or Jimmy White. What is certain is that he is ready to
assume the mantle of 'Peoples Champion', which they previously
held. Sadly, like other supremely talented sportsmen - Alex
Higgins from snooker and George Best from football to name just
two - Ronnie's temperament is questionable and he often performs
well below his best and frequently seems to lose interest. His
talent is such, however, that he can build century breaks
left-handed as well as right and when he is in the 'groove', his
opponents can do nothing but sit back and admire his magic. He
has no less than five officially recognized maximums to his name
and now stands fourth in the all-time prize money list with over
£3 million. What is left for him to achieve? Well I am sure he
would hope to win more world titles and if his mind is right it
is difficult to see anyone preventing him from doing so.
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Achievements:
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World
Professional champion |
2001, 2004 |
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United Kingdom
champion |
1993,
1997, 2001 |
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British
Open champion |
1994 |
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Grand Prix Champion |
2004 |
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Asian
Classic champion |
1996 |
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German
Open champion |
1996 |
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Regal
Scottish Open champion |
1998, 2000 |
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Welsh Open
Champion |
2004, 2005 |
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European Open |
2003 |
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China
International champion |
2000, 2001 |
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Masters champion |
1995, 2005 |
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Irish
Masters champion |
2001, 2003, 2005 |
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Regal
Scottish Masters champion |
1998, 2000, 2002 |
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Liverpool
Victoria Charity Challenge winner |
1996 |
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Champions
Cup winner |
2000 |
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Premier
League winner |
1997, 2001,
2002, 2005 |
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Benson &
Hedges championship winner |
1993 |
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Nations
Cup winner |
2000
(English team) |
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Nescafe
Extra Challenge winner |
1992 |
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Riley
Superstar International winner |
1997 |
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IBSF World
Under 21 champion |
1991 |
Chris Turner -
June 2002
Revised August 2005
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