Ronnie O’Sullivan may be the consensus greatest player to ever pick up a snooker cue but he has achieved such monumental success in that game, partly, because he struggles to see himself in that light.
No player has won more ranking titles, made more centuries or has more fans around the globe than the Rocket. He is a unique figure in snooker in terms of talent, success and celebrity.
He is probably the sport’s most complicated character, as well, as he feels much of this success has been down to crippling self-doubt and a fear of failure he has suffered since childhood.
An understandable, and almost heartbreaking, point but the complexities of the 44-year-old are illustrated because he segues into this statement by saying he finds it very hard to watch any snooker player outside of the world’s top 32.
He may be self-critical but he is well aware that the majority of professionals in the sport cannot compete with him on form.
‘I think the top 32 has always been good, in the 32 you’re capable of winning a tournament and you wouldn’t be surprised if they did,’ O’Sullivan told Metro.co.uk.
‘But I speak to a lot of friends who love snooker and they can’t watch it no more. They’re asking, “Who is that bloke?” A lot of the matches aren’t competitive.
‘If I was watching snooker I like to think it’s 60-40, but if it’s 100% that someone’s going to get blasted off the table, what’s the point? It’s like Mike Tyson fighting me, who would want to watch that?
‘I think everybody wants to see competitive sport. Snooker fans will watch anything, but people who are not sure would rather watch something evenly matched.’
O’Sullivan’s immediate reaction will often be the most contrary available, so it can be difficult to gauge where his true feelings stand. Confronted with the possibility of snooker being too easy for him at times, he disagrees, but opens up on his mental struggles in a way that suggests this is a very real stance.
‘I’d never say it’s too easy because I’d never disrespect the game and we all have our own pride in performance and our own doubts,’ continued the Rocket.
‘Don’t get me wrong, self-doubt has crippled me all my life so I’d never take for granted the game or whoever I’m playing, because sometimes I don’t know who they are and you get pleasantly surprised.
‘They end up coming out, playing brilliantly and you think, “Who is this geezer?” Then six months into the season you find out that guy hasn’t won a frame or a match.
‘They all come in excited that they’re on the tour, but after six or nine months of getting bashed up by [John] Higgins, [Mark] Selby and [Judd] Trump, slowly they crawl back into their shell and it’s not a good place to be. It’s like, “Welcome to the big boys,” you know.
‘I’ve played them before, they’re looking at me and they look like they want to cry. I’m looking at them and thinking, “Mate, you’ve got to play me now and you look like you want to be anywhere but here.”
‘Then you bash them up 4-0, they trundle off, you look at him and think, “Is that really nice?”’
Being harsh on himself but also on others may seem nonsensical, but it is a perfectionism that Ronnie has in his own game that inevitably applies to everyone else in snooker, not just opponents but officials and administrators.
The fear of failure fuels this perfectionism, and while it has been a hindrance in the past, working with sports psychologist Dr Steve Peters over the last nine years has seen him harness its power.
‘Yeah, ever since I was a kid I always thought everyone was better than me,’ said Ronnie. ‘My dad used to say, “Are you mad?” But I thought, nah, he cues better than me, he’s better at this or that.
‘I’ve always kind of had it, but a lot of my success has been driven from fear. Fear of failure, fear of not being good enough, fear of having to work harder to be as good as the next guy. In a way it’s driven me on but I’ve realised it’s not healthy.
‘Since working with Steve Peters I’ve learned how to turn that around and have a life, but still compete on the table and not be driven by fear.
‘I play now because I want to play and not because I have anything to prove. I realise it’s a tough sport, a tough game and it’s a roll of the dice a lot of the time. As long as I keep rolling a few sixes, it’s all good.’
Snooker is a uniquely pressurised environment for professionals. Playing a fiendishly difficult game in complete silence with hundreds of people staring directly at you. It is understandable that any negative thoughts can be amplified and scurry out of control.
This is why, despite being snooker’s most popular player, O’Sullivan is happy for there to be no fans at the World Championship this year, as he bids for a sixth Crucible crown.
‘I quite enjoy having no crowd, because you don’t have to perform for anybody,’ Ronnie explained. ‘As a sportsman, especially one who people expect to make 147s, people think your cue’s a wand and you can just turn it on like a tap, there’s a lot of pressure involved for you to deliver.
‘If I don’t deliver, you can feel the disappointment in the air. Without a crowd it takes away that, if I play well, great, if I don’t at least no one’s wasted their ticket money, they’ve just paid their licence fee, and there’s plenty of other things to watch on the BBC.’
The Rocket, who will also be working as a pundit for Eurosport, begins his World Championship challenge on Sunday against thrilling Thai playing Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, and it seems that things are coming together nicely for the five-time champion.
After the change from Government on the opening day of the event, crowds will not be involved, but players will also not have to endure the ‘bubble’ environment they went through at the Championship League and Tour Championship earlier this summer.
O’Sullivan is free to roam the streets of Sheffield and eat the food he wants to, which has long been the most important things to keeping his unpredictable emotions in check.
‘The last 20 years my mental health has been based around fitness and running, that’s been quite well documented, how running has helped me cope with the stresses of sport and life,’ he said.
‘I’m not saying I’m a special case, I think a lot of people have ways to cope with the stresses of life and found that running, especially with what has been going on, they’ve become more active and it’s improved their life.
‘As far as on the snooker table, that’s out of your hands, you’ve got an opponent that’s equally as ferocious as you. If it’s not your day then there’s not a lot I can do about that sometimes. But with the running and the eating, the last 20 years, that’s been the cornerstone of my longevity
‘I don’t necessarily think it’s made me a better player or enhanced me. I just look at myself now at 44 and think I’m glad I kept myself in good shape because I feel alright, I feel I’ve got another five, six, seven, 10 years or however long I want.
‘But I’ve never just trained for snooker, I’ve trained for mental health, physical health, just the benefits from running. Running is the hard bit, you never feel like going for a run but 10 minutes in you feel fantastic, and for the rest of the day. I’ve tried a lot of drugs, but no drug comes close to that.
‘A gym doesn’t do it for me, I like to be out in nature. For me a gym is like a concrete jungle, yeah there is a place for it, but just as a strengthening exercise, but not for my endorphins.
‘Running through the forest, I had four or five deer run out in front of me the other day and I was like “Wow!” It’s all about the outdoors, I think I should have been born as Alan Titchmarsh.’
Live snooker returns to Eurosport and Eurosport.com. Watch the Snooker World Championship from 31st July – 16th August.
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