What game is Ronnie O’Sullivan number one in?”
Press conference at the Royal Automobile Club, central London. Barry Hearn, new chair of the World World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, is giving it large, talking about how he’s going to reinvent the game – more fun, more fast formats, more money. “No characters in this game? Look at Ronnie, I’ve loved him since he was 12. Total nutcase, but what a character.” Ronnie O’Sullivan smiles. O’Sullivan, widely regarded as the most gifted player the game has known, is sitting to Hearn’s left. John Higgins, the world champion, is to his right. “These boys are the luckiest in the world, so what you’ve got to do is love every second and thank God you’ve got the ability to take part in such a prestigious tournament,” Hearn says. He means the World Championship, which starts at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield this morning. Press conference over, O’Sullivan runs out of the venue. “I really don’t feel like playing in the Worlds. Couldn’t wait to get out of there.” Classic Ronnie.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has been world number one in snooker for some years now and while he is an unbelievably skillful snooker player, he is also very unpredictable, because he’s been seen to become frustrated in matches and sudden nervousness has often done him a degree of harm. When asked about such reactions to disappointments of the game he said that he tries to be a good player and he tries to remain calm during the game, but that’s hard for him because he is an emotional person. Emotional or not, the guy is currently ranked in top snooker players of the world and he’s preparing for the world championship once again. This time he fights for his 4th world title and £1.1 million prize. However, he said that money has never been an inspiration for him, because he has a lot of it. He just thinks that he is still a little undertrained according to his expectations.
