Ronnie O Sullivan

IAMAMORON · 10-08-2020 11:21pm

Best player in the world. He has had a tough upbringing and I understand he suffers from depression. People say stupid stuff sometimes.

He mentioned earlier this week that he was enjoying no spectators. Seemingly he gets mobbed in sheffield every year.

The best player I have ever witnessed.

IAMAMORON · 10-08-2020 11:24pm

Muahahaha wrote: »

Didnt John Higgins get caught match fixing a few years back and some other funny business with Barry Hearn? How come Higgins wasnt banned?

The sport is riddled with match fixing.

dd973 · 10-08-2020 11:32pm

The Snooker commentariat go on about him like he's Keith Moon on Crack Cocaine with a chainsaw, then you see him being interviewed and he mumbles in a mundane Essex accent 'Well.., I fink I'm playing decent snooker at the moment...'

Beechwoodspark · 10-08-2020 11:44pm

dd973 wrote: »

The Snooker commentariat go on about him like he's Keith Moon on Crack Cocaine with a chainsaw, then you see him being interviewed and he mumbles in a mundane Essex accent 'Well.., I fink I'm playing decent snooker at the moment...'

This is exactly it

In terms of partying Ronnie isn’t fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Hurricane Higgins

AllForIt · 10-08-2020 11:46pm

faffingaround wrote: »

He’s been acting the maggot since the 90’s and the sport is all the better for it! The characters(level of interest?/ high standards?!) from the 80’s and 90’s are long gone and Barry Hearn and co. still need him badly. For publicity purposes nearly more than anything.

I hate the cliche but after reading some of his autobiographies he has had a troubled childhood. Cheeky chappy and son of a murderer(courts noted it was racial) and porn baroness! Was never going to be fully right! He was f***ed up from pressure, depression and certainly cannabis from an early age.

However the idea that he is a McGregor/Kygrios type figure is a joke! Absolute genius and best player ever which is backed up by his 19 triple crown titles(World, Masters and Uk). This is 1 more than Hendry and 4 more than Davis which says a lot!

Totally agree with this. For me Ronnie has a very stereotypical hard man geezer persona, types of people I've often come across on the pub pool circuit in south east England. Those types of people are quite harmless mostly, they just like to play up their masculinity at times. It's just the way they are.

McGregor and indeed Hurricane Higgins(was) on another level altogether. Something kinda inherently mental about them, which Ronnie is not.

I met Jimmy White in a South London snooker club back in the late 90's. He was quite geezer like rude to me, without going into the details, and he is very much of that kind of hard man geezer type working class background as well. Didn't really bother me at all. It's just the way they are given the background they come from. Just a bit brash and in your face but nothing more than that.

ArnoldJRimmer · 11-08-2020 12:14am

I love Ronnie, but he was way out of order with this. With all the controversies over the years though, its the first time I remember him being genuinely mean spirited, even if its possible that he was speaking the truth. Ken Doherty spoke quite well about it earlier, saying that these players idolise him, and he should not be putting them down like this

The comparisons with Alex Higgins in terms of ability are valid, didn't see enough of Higgins in his prime to say who was better. As a human being though, Higgins is definitely the most horrible person I've ever met. His book, while an entertaining read, backs this up

Mad_maxx · 11-08-2020 12:29am

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

He had a tough enough childhood with his dad being locked up for murder, was open about suffering with deression/ anxiety also.
I have been in his company on three occasions and found him pleasent but quiet enough.

He gets mobbed wherever he goes so i'd be backing him all day long to with this event with nobody hassling him

Have you ever met Stephen hendry, knew a guy who was snooker mad, photos in his shop of him with Ken Doherty and John Higgins, claimed hendry was a real cold fish?

Hated hendry myself back in the day, was a huge Jimmy White fan

tobefrank321 · 11-08-2020 12:36am

He talks a lot of nonsense.
One minute he says he doesn't take it seriously and in the next sentence talks about Steve Peters giving him advice. Sure you don't take it seriously Ronnie.
Not many of the young lads will have Steve Peters to call on. No wonder its difficult for them to make a breakthrough.

Hulk Hands · 11-08-2020 12:42am

Stephen Hendry is comfortably the greatest player ever. Hendry turned the game into somewhat of a farce in the 90s, such was his domainance. The game was far more popular back then than it is now and he alone changed it forever from a tactical game to a heavy scoring game.

O'Sullivan is easily more talented and he's a great character. The ability to play almost as well left handed is frankly ridiculous. Natural talent gets overrated however, albeit understandable, as people love flair. Give me a born winner who maxed out his talent like Hendry over someone who had it easy in comparison as Ronnie did. Ronnie was always near the top but was never dominant

Hulk Hands · 11-08-2020 12:49am

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Have you ever met Stephen hendry, knew a guy who was snooker mad, photos in his shop of him with Ken Doherty and John Higgins, claimed hendry was a real cold fish?

Hated hendry myself back in the day, was a huge Jimmy White fan

Hendry and Davis are very similar in this regard. Both were seen as cold and aloof when at the top. Davis was barely allowed to talk to anyone by Barry Hearn and was constantly bemoaned by the hard drinking types in the 80s. Now he's seen as very personable and quite funny. Hendry has been very similar. Once baggage handlers broke his cue in 00 and he realised he was struggling to compete thereafter, his persona changed hugely

ArnoldJRimmer · 11-08-2020 1:16am

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Stephen Hendry is comfortably the greatest player ever. Hendry turned the game into somewhat of a farce in the 90s, such was his domainance. The game was far more popular back then than it is now and he alone changed it forever from a tactical game to a heavy scoring game.

O'Sullivan is easily more talented and he's a great character. The ability to play almost as well left handed is frankly ridiculous. Natural talent gets overrated however, albeit understandable, as people love flair. Give me a born winner who maxed out his talent like Hendry over someone who had it easy in comparison as Ronnie did. Ronnie was always near the top but was never dominant

As a massive fan of Jimmy White in the 90s, I hated Hendry, but in the 1999 final where he was going for his 7th title, I was cheering him on, as he deserved to break that record. However, with snooker, I will always go with the outrageous talent over the brilliant professional. Both Hendry and O'Sullivan are legends for different reasons.

Mad_maxx · 11-08-2020 8:06am

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Hendry and Davis are very similar in this regard. Both were seen as cold and aloof when at the top. Davis was barely allowed to talk to anyone by Barry Hearn and was constantly bemoaned by the hard drinking types in the 80s. Now he's seen as very personable and quite funny. Hendry has been very similar. Once baggage handlers broke his cue in 00 and he realised he was struggling to compete thereafter, his persona changed hugely

That was ( Steve Davis) his table manner, turned out he was a likeable, affable and funny guy off it ,not so hendry who is an aloof cold fish everywhere

ohnonotgmail · 11-08-2020 10:17am

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

Big bad bill used to take them as he had the shakes from the gargle. Big unit he was

he didnt have the shakes from too much drink. he drank so much to control an essential tremor he had. on doctors orders too apparently. the beta blockers were for a heart condition he developed because of the alcohol.

The Nal · 11-08-2020 10:23am

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Once baggage handlers broke his cue in 00 and he realised he was struggling to compete thereafter, his persona changed hugely

He also got the snooker yips a year or two before that. A really noticeable decline from 2000 ish on which is actually quite sad because he was only the same age as Trump at the time.

I was a Jimmy fan like everyone else but kind of lost interest when he bottled that black in the 94 final. Only so many times....

Hulk Hands · 11-08-2020 10:27am

Mad_maxx wrote: »

That was ( Steve Davis) his table manner, turned out he was a likeable, affable and funny guy off it ,not so hendry who is an aloof cold fish everywhere

He's had video's up over lockdown of long chats with Williams, Ronnie etc and he was likeable and funny. I don't see how he'd be so central to BBC's media if he had no personality and all reports since about 02 have been to the contrary of your sole anecdotal story

Littlehorny · 11-08-2020 11:00am

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

he didnt have the shakes from too much drink. he drank so much to control an essential tremor he had. on doctors orders too apparently. the beta blockers were for a heart condition he developed because of the alcohol.

Big Bill was allowed claim tax back on some of the beer he drank back then because it was on a prescription!

joeguevara · 11-08-2020 11:04am

Littlehorny wrote: »

Big Bill was allowed claim tax back on some of the beer he drank back then because it was on a prescription!

Doubt Jimmy White got something similar with his crack purchases.

Littlehorny · 11-08-2020 11:09am

joeguevara wrote: »

Doubt Jimmy White got something similar with his crack purchases.

Really? Didn't know Jimmy went as far as hard drugs. I know people who were in his company said he drank vodka like water years ago.
Does White still drink and smoke?

joeguevara · 11-08-2020 11:10am

Littlehorny wrote: »

Really? Didn't know Jimmy went as far as hard drugs. I know people who were in his company said he drank vodka like water years ago.
Does White still drink and smoke?

White attributes losing every championship to his crack addiction. He famously smashed up an irish hotel room because of it.

Muahahaha · 11-08-2020 11:34am

joeguevara wrote: »

He was banned for 6 months,

He was cleared of match fixing and an interesting story about the Russian mafia.

yeah that whole match fixing thing still smells to this day to me. He was caught on tape discussing throwing specific frames for bribes from an Asian betting syndicate. It pissed me off because a few years before I used to work night shifts so when the snooker was on during the day Id be watching for hours and often betting frame by frame. Was only betting small money but Id definitely put money on Higgins to win frames and then when the match fixing story broke you're left wondering was he throwing them on purpose. Its nothing to do with the money, more the morals of it and it left a sour taste in my mouth from a sport I used to follow a lot at the time.

Wasnt there also some scandal about snookers CEO Barry Hearn? Either that he might have been involved or was turning a blind eye to reports of match fixing? It was all very suss. I always felt Higgins' 6 month ban was a farce and it was Hearn helping him out because the sport needed its stars. It should have been a multi year ban to send a message to other players thinking of match fixing, after all if you cant trust the integrity of a sport then whats the point in watching it. At the time I was already losing interest in the sport but the Higgins match fixing made me fall out of love with it.

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Once baggage handlers broke his cue in 00 and he realised he was struggling to compete thereafter, his persona changed hugely

The famous Hendry cue

I always thought what he needed was a sports psychologist because he seemed to get completely hung up about that cue getting broken. I know they're important and all that but think he got hung up on the sentimentality of the cue and all the tournaments he had won with it. In his mind it was some sort of a super cue that he couldnt win without. That then fed into his mind when using the new cue, he would blame bad shots on that rather than on himself.

joeguevara · 11-08-2020 11:37am

Muahahaha wrote: »

yeah that whole match fixing thing still smells to this day to me. He was caught on tape discussing throwing specific frames for bribes from an Asian betting syndicate. It pissed me off because a few years before I used to work night shifts so when the snooker was on during the day Id be watching for hours and often betting frame by frame. Was only betting small money but Id definitely put money on Higgins to win frames and then when the match fixing story broke you're left wondering was he throwing them on purpose. Its nothing to do with the money, more the morals of it and it left a sour taste in my mouth from a sport I used to follow a lot at the time.

Wasnt there also some scandal about snookers CEO Barry Hearn? Either that he might have been involved or was turning a blind eye to reports of match fixing? It was all very suss. I always felt Higgins' 6 month ban was a farce and it was Hearn helping him out because the sport needed its stars. It should have been a multi year ban to send a message to other players thinking of match fixing, after all if you cant trust the integrity of a sport then whats the point in watching it. At the time I was already losing interest in the sport but the Higgins match fixing made me fall out of love with it.

The famous Hendry cue I always thought what he needed was a sports psychologist because he seemed to get completely hung up about that cue getting broken. I know they're important and all that but think he got hung up on the sentimentality of the cue and all the tournaments he had won with it. In his mind it was some sort of a super cue that he couldnt win without. That then fed into his mind when using the new cue, he would blame bad shots on that rather than on himself.

Really like John Higgins. The whole News of the World sting was very strange. Definitely seemed like a stitch up and his manager should never allowed him to be put in that situation. Like, if i was in a room with russian mafia, i would say i would blow up the crucible to get out of there. The thing that he got banned for was not bringing it to anyones attention as far as Im aware, rather than throwing frames.

Muahahaha · 11-08-2020 12:43pm

joeguevara wrote: »

Really like John Higgins. The whole News of the World sting was very strange. Definitely seemed like a stitch up and his manager should never allowed him to be put in that situation. Like, if i was in a room with russian mafia, i would say i would blow up the crucible to get out of there. The thing that he got banned for was not bringing it to anyones attention as far as Im aware, rather than throwing frames.

I loved him too but not after that and it really left a sour taste in my mouth. The thing is he said he was just going along with the meeting about match fixing because he was afraid of the other men. I dont buy the story for one minute, even if the meeting was set up on false pretenses and then they got talking about match fixing he still could have said 'no, I dont fix matches and this meeting is over'. Its not like they were going to shoot him in a 5 star hotel room or something.

And if he felt threatened then thats what the police are there for. And if he was 'just going along with their plan because he was scared of them' then what happened after the meeting, did he ring them up and say 'no sorry Ive changed my mind'? Thats when you would really be scared, making a deal with the mafia and then reneging on it soon after.

To me he was match fixing, Ive no doubt about that. The soft sentence he got showed a wider corruption in the sport going right to the top. I more or less stopped watching it after that, it just didnt feel right when you had doubts in your mind about the integrity of the sport.

Stevieluvsye · 11-08-2020 1:29pm

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Have you ever met Stephen hendry, knew a guy who was snooker mad, photos in his shop of him with Ken Doherty and John Higgins, claimed hendry was a real cold fish?

Hated hendry myself back in the day, was a huge Jimmy White fan

I did yeah, cNan't remember if it was Goffs or Citywest but was pleasent enough. John Parrot is exactly as he comes across on tele.

Met pretty much all of them over the years with back stage passes. Davis was pretty sound but he was coming towards the end of his career.

Trying to think who was a bit ignorent.........Hmmmm, Robertson is a bit of a miserable fcuker and Kyren Wilson i met a few years ago seemed a bit up himself when i saw him couple of years back in sheffield.

Actually Selby is spot on. So is his wife, bit of a milf

joeguevara · 11-08-2020 1:32pm

My favourite modern player was Paul Hunter. Absolute legend and such a nice guy. Met him 3 times. Favourite story is giving his wife a quickie between frames to relieve tension. I don't think I have ever been as upset from when a sports star died as with him. Don't know why but it really got to me.

Stevieluvsye · 11-08-2020 1:34pm

joeguevara wrote: »

My favourite modern player was Paul Hunter. Absolute legend and such a nice guy. Met him 3 times. Favourite story is giving his wife a quickie between frames to relieve tension. I don't think I have ever been as upset from when a sports star died as with him. Don't know why but it really got to me.

Lovely genuine nice guy. Met him in Leeds weirdly outside snooker event in a Yates' think it was.

Hulk Hands · 11-08-2020 2:17pm

Muahahaha wrote: »

The famous Hendry cue I always thought what he needed was a sports psychologist because he seemed to get completely hung up about that cue getting broken. I know they're important and all that but think he got hung up on the sentimentality of the cue and all the tournaments he had won with it. In his mind it was some sort of a super cue that he couldnt win without. That then fed into his mind when using the new cue, he would blame bad shots on that rather than on himself.

The fact that he was by far the most mentally strong player previous to that leads me to think it wasn't a mental thing. It doesn't match with what went before. I think it's just the machine like routine was broken. Practice & win, repeated over and over with everything constant for 12-15 years. The cue and the yips broke that continuous cycle.

Should be remembered tbf, he didn't vanish post 00. He was world no.1 on 05 and lost a world final on a decider in 03. I'd liken it to Tiger Woods having his dominance broken for outside reasons, with his talent/workrate getting him back to the top very sporadically thereafter

Bobblehats · 11-08-2020 3:25pm

Come on Trump ..

The Tetrarch · 11-08-2020 3:31pm

Mad_maxx wrote: »

That was ( Steve Davis) his table manner, turned out he was a likeable, affable and funny guy off it ,not so hendry who is an aloof cold fish everywhere

Steve Davis played in a few poker tournaments in Dublin around 2004.
I think he was playing snooker at Goffs, and commentating on the later rounds.
Playing poker at 9pm onwards was probably a good way to kill time.
The first tournament he played in the Merrion Club he won.
The next night in the Merrion he was knocked out early, left the table as you must, and then spent a few hours chatting to regulars.
Another night he played in the Fitzwilliam Card Club. A new member gets a 10 Euro voucher to play roulette or blackjack.
Steve put his voucher on 19 or 29, won at 35/1, went up to the cash window and cashed his chips.
He was seated beside me during the tournament and it was the usual chat, slagging, gossip at the table with Steve taking part.

joeguevara · 11-08-2020 3:37pm

The Tetrarch wrote: »

Steve Davis played in a few poker tournaments in Dublin around 2004.
I think he was playing snooker at Goffs, and commentating on the later rounds.
Playing poker at 9pm onwards was probably a good way to kill time.
The first tournament he played in the Merrion Club he won.
The next night in the Merrion he was knocked out early, left the table as you must, and then spent a few hours chatting to regulars.
Another night he played in the Fitzwilliam Card Club. A new member gets a 10 Euro voucher to play roulette or blackjack.
Steve put his voucher on 19 or 29, won at 35/1, went up to the cash window and cashed his chips.
He was seated beside me during the tournament and it was the usual chat, slagging, gossip at the table with Steve taking part.

I think the first time that people realised that Steve had a funny side was when he was playing pool tournaments and pool trick shots on 90s sky sports. He came across as self deprecating and had some cracking one liners.

Muahahaha · 11-08-2020 3:43pm

yeah Steve Davis was an absolute bore when he was in his prime. It wasnt until he started doing media stuff with BBC and the like that people realized he is actually a pretty sound guy.

joeguevara · 11-08-2020 3:53pm

8-4 against Ronnie now. It started 7-2 didn't it?

Stevieluvsye · 11-08-2020 3:55pm

joeguevara wrote: »

8-4 against Ronnie now. It started 7-2 didn't it?

6-2

Stevieluvsye · 11-08-2020 5:01pm

Not sure i'm warming to this woman ref

Bring back

fcb5a9083ea8ba1e099f9101f8b3c14f-sexy-women-google-search.jpg

moonage · 11-08-2020 5:11pm

Would it be the easy pink or the difficult brown?

joeguevara · 11-08-2020 5:12pm

8 all now. What a legend Ronnie is.

Insect Overlord · 11-08-2020 5:14pm

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

6-2

Looks like it's going to close 8-8!

Edit: I didn't realise I was watching delayed coverage. >_<

joeguevara · 11-08-2020 5:15pm

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Looks like it's going to close 8-8!

Legend he is. Obviously he didn’t lose an arm or a leg.

weldoninhio · 11-08-2020 5:17pm

Say Your Number wrote: »

He's great to watch but the people who act like he's the only person who plays the game would nearly put you off him for good.

He’s the only person worth watching play the game.

Stevieluvsye · 11-08-2020 5:20pm

weldoninhio wrote: »

He’s the only person worth watching play the game.

The lad Ronnie beat in the first round is well worth a watch!!! Fcuking shot time is unreal

Blanco100 · 11-08-2020 5:28pm

Always felt a bit sorry for O'Sullivan. Hes an absolute genius. Best to have ever picked up a queue.

If you knew you were best in the world at something you would be delighted, I think hes bitter that its only snooker.

Stevieluvsye · 11-08-2020 5:30pm

Blanco100 wrote: »

Always felt a bit sorry for O'Sullivan. Hes an absolute genius. Best to have ever picked up a queue.

If you knew you were best in the world at something you would be delighted, I think hes bitter that its only snooker.

WTF? Bitter because it's only snooker?

He's a multi millionaire, adored by 10's of million of people across the world

raclle · 11-08-2020 5:33pm

Blanco100 wrote: »

If you knew you were best in the world at something you would be delighted, I think hes bitter that its only snooker.

Yeah ive always got that feeling from him. He's one of those people that lets his emotions control him which has held him back from winning a lot more

skinny90 · 11-08-2020 5:41pm

Blanco100 wrote: »

Always felt a bit sorry for O'Sullivan. Hes an absolute genius. Best to have ever picked up a queue.

If you knew you were best in the world at something you would be delighted, I think hes bitter that its only snooker.

I dont agree, im not a psychologist but when you dig into the well documented past of Ronnie and understand what he has gone through,its easy to understand his bitterness as some put it.
Ronnie is a very strange yet outrageously talented individual. Snooker is where he expresses himself, things like speaking out to the media is never and has never been his strong point of his. especially when discussing his own game. and if its not 100% to his own liking he you can see it in his body language, even if to everyone elses eye he is having a half decent game. it will dig in at him that something isnt to his liking or there is a small annoyance and he begins to loose interest. There was so many times of watched him loose due to him literally throwing it away
Now if you listen to Eurosport when he is commentating you will hear and see a completely different person as he is in the back seat in awe watching.

.anon. · 11-08-2020 5:50pm

weldoninhio wrote: »

He’s the only person worth watching play the game.

Dechawat Poomjaeng was the most entertaining player I've ever seen. He appeared out of nowhere in 2013, when he qualified for the World Championships. He beat Stephen Maguire in the first round with no real game-plan, except making brilliant shots and hoping the cue ball would end up in the right place. He also got lost on the way to the theatre, accidentally went to the wrong table and gave himself a round of applause when he accidentally played a good safety shot. Dropped off the pro tour a few years ago, sadly.

Rothko · 11-08-2020 6:20pm

weldoninhio wrote: »

He’s the only person worth watching play the game.

Utter nonsense.

AllGunsBlazing · 11-08-2020 7:23pm

Meh, even Ronnie missed the boat when it comes to snooker's golden age.

The 1980's!!!

Alex "Hurricane" Higgins! Jimmy "Whirlwind" White! Steve "Interesting" Davis!

Tuco88 · 11-08-2020 9:07pm

I'm a big fan of Ronnie. What do you expect with the interview, he is half or fully mad &#55357;&#56833;

I like Trump of the new stock, he has some serious skill but can be off at times. Still class.

The only total wanker in todays game imo is Mark Allen. No respect for that bigot and an asshole. When he takes a shot and moves his chin/Jaw to the left...inbred?

weldoninhio · 11-08-2020 10:11pm

radiata wrote: »

Looks like Ronnie is playing to the same standards as the 'numpties'.
This genius hasn't been in a final since 2014

Guess you were wrong eh?

Stevieluvsye · 11-08-2020 10:14pm

Ronnie said lump on Selby

I swiftly went on to B365 and Ronnie is 1/2 FAV

He's fooling nobody. 5 centuries and he said he was sh!te

Rows Grower · 11-08-2020 10:28pm

He seemed to have an extra level when he really needed it during the nitty gritty frames and then relaxed when he was in the home straight.

I think playing in the empty arena is really suiting him, did he make that ref change his mind about the free ball situation there in the last frame? I was only half paying attention. Jays, that ref is after aging a lot.

Ronnie O Sullivan

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