Rattled Ronnie
Ronnie O’Sullivan can be likened to the British weather, forever changeable. His dispute with World Snooker over a possible sanction due to not attending a post match press conference after his defeat to James Cahill in the World Championship, rages on. Ronnie has threatened to not play in the majority of tournaments next season, including the Triple Crown events, choosing instead to only play three or four events. This shot across Barry Hearn’s bow, was met by strong words by the Chairman, saying that if he wanted to reduce his calendar or quit he could. Barry said he would not be missed as snooker now had a new attraction, Judd Trump. Trump’s victory at the World Championship this year temporarily put the O’Sullivan story on the back burner but now the story is bubbling again to the surface
The situation became clearer yesterday when it was announced that O’Sullivan is to enter the Shanghai Masters in September. This was reinforced by his actual press conference for the launch in Shanghai. Given Ronnie’s disdain for media meetings, I couldn’t see him travelling all the way to China for a conference, only to say on his return that he was not taking part in the event. However stranger things have happened at sea and even stranger ones in O’Sullivan’s public life. Ronnie attended the Shanghai media launch with Ding Jun Hui and you can see why the Chigwell lad has decided to attend. Although now not a ranking event, the tournament still has a monetary punch in prize money. The winner will walk away with a cheque for £200,000 and Ronnie is the current champion after dispatching Barry Hawkins in the final, an event that he has now won 3 times.
However in a recent press interview, fellow professional, David Gilbert is quoted as saying:
“I don’t want to speak for Ronnie, he could murder you.” “I don’t know he’s said things before, but Ronnie’s Ronnie, he’s a brilliant player, creates interest, everybody loves to watch him”.
“My guess would be that he will be playing in them events but I don’t know him well enough to even dare to comment so I don’t want to get involved in any of that. I’m sure that the public want to see him definitely”.
Whatever is the truth concerning O’Sullivan’s future, it is clear that there would be no major impact to Ronnie personally if he streamlined his events. With over £10 million in the bank so far in career winning and having won every trophy that is possible to win in snooker, this maverick player could easily survive with or without the sport. It is true that audience figures and ticket sales are boosted when he does appear in tournaments but people have to realise that he will not be around forever.
I personally admire O’Sullivan’s skill on the green baize but am getting a little tired of his hunger to hog the limelight with whacky media headlines. The press of course love it because it fills a space in their sports’ section but for me this bitter pill is becoming even harder to swallow every time it makes an appearance. People complain that there are not the personalities in snooker that there were in the past However we have to accept that this is a different era and the game has moved on and improved in so many areas. Ronnie is one of 128 players and there are plenty of characters in this assembly of professional players. Just because O’Sullivan may not be in an event, doesn’t mean you don’t watch it on television or buy tickets to br in the audience.
Ronnie picked up £700,000 last season in tournament winnings alone for 6 weeks work, a staggering amount of money that lower ranked players would take years of hard work to achieve.O’Sullivan has said he needs to play his children’s school fees but this would only equate to a small sliver of their remuneration, even if involved private schooling. I don’t have a crystal to ball to tell you a definite outcome to this man’s future and if I did try my crystal ball would probably overheat and explode. What is safe to say is that I know that I live in Stevenage and I know what I had for breakfast and I caught the bus this morning.
The situation became clearer yesterday when it was announced that O’Sullivan is to enter the Shanghai Masters in September. This was reinforced by his actual press conference for the launch in Shanghai. Given Ronnie’s disdain for media meetings, I couldn’t see him travelling all the way to China for a conference, only to say on his return that he was not taking part in the event. However stranger things have happened at sea and even stranger ones in O’Sullivan’s public life. Ronnie attended the Shanghai media launch with Ding Jun Hui and you can see why the Chigwell lad has decided to attend. Although now not a ranking event, the tournament still has a monetary punch in prize money. The winner will walk away with a cheque for £200,000 and Ronnie is the current champion after dispatching Barry Hawkins in the final, an event that he has now won 3 times.
However in a recent press interview, fellow professional, David Gilbert is quoted as saying:
“I don’t want to speak for Ronnie, he could murder you.” “I don’t know he’s said things before, but Ronnie’s Ronnie, he’s a brilliant player, creates interest, everybody loves to watch him”.
“My guess would be that he will be playing in them events but I don’t know him well enough to even dare to comment so I don’t want to get involved in any of that. I’m sure that the public want to see him definitely”.
Whatever is the truth concerning O’Sullivan’s future, it is clear that there would be no major impact to Ronnie personally if he streamlined his events. With over £10 million in the bank so far in career winning and having won every trophy that is possible to win in snooker, this maverick player could easily survive with or without the sport. It is true that audience figures and ticket sales are boosted when he does appear in tournaments but people have to realise that he will not be around forever.
I personally admire O’Sullivan’s skill on the green baize but am getting a little tired of his hunger to hog the limelight with whacky media headlines. The press of course love it because it fills a space in their sports’ section but for me this bitter pill is becoming even harder to swallow every time it makes an appearance. People complain that there are not the personalities in snooker that there were in the past However we have to accept that this is a different era and the game has moved on and improved in so many areas. Ronnie is one of 128 players and there are plenty of characters in this assembly of professional players. Just because O’Sullivan may not be in an event, doesn’t mean you don’t watch it on television or buy tickets to br in the audience.
Ronnie picked up £700,000 last season in tournament winnings alone for 6 weeks work, a staggering amount of money that lower ranked players would take years of hard work to achieve.O’Sullivan has said he needs to play his children’s school fees but this would only equate to a small sliver of their remuneration, even if involved private schooling. I don’t have a crystal to ball to tell you a definite outcome to this man’s future and if I did try my crystal ball would probably overheat and explode. What is safe to say is that I know that I live in Stevenage and I know what I had for breakfast and I caught the bus this morning.
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