How difficult it is to feel the fragility of a giant. Ronnie O'Sullivan (Wordsley, United Kingdom, 1975) is the best player in snooker history, the most popular form of billiards. No one doubts his talent, much less his track record: seven World Championships, 41 titles, 389 weeks as number one... But he has been at odds with his own sport for a few years. Not only does he lose, but he also struggles, gets angry, gets frustrated. In January, he broke a cue and decided to step away from the table, not play, not even train, for a few weeks. Now snooker is on edge about his presence in the upcoming World Championship, starting on Saturday, April 19, and broadcasted by Eurosport and Max in Spain, but he remains tight-lipped. In a conversation with EL MUNDO, he says he wants to "give himself space" to see if he is ready. Anyone else would think about retirement, but O'Sullivan currently prefers to battle his demons. How difficult it is to feel the fragility of a giant.
Question. When will you decide if you will play in the World Championship or not?
Answer. I will decide on the 17th or 18th, before the draw takes place. I am giving myself time. I would really love to pick up my cue and just play snooker, but I don't know if I will.
Q. What is stopping you?
A. I haven't been playing well since 2020, I have been playing terribly for four years. There have been flashes [I was world champion in 2022], moments when I thought I was improving, but overall I am going through a horrible streak and it's taking a toll on me. I have felt exhausted, I have lost the love for the game. That's why I broke my cue earlier this year, it was an outburst of anger, pure frustration. After that, I am scared to play in front of the audience, the idea of doing it is too much for me. I stepped away from the table and now I have been training for three weeks, but I still don't know how it will go.
Q. In 2020, you won the World Championship and then lost five consecutive finals. Did it all start there?
A. It wasn't the defeats, nor was it an injury. Before all that, six or seven years ago, I wanted to perfect certain aspects of my game, certain coaches gave me advice and it went really wrong. I thought they would help me, but it didn't work out. Now I am undoing all that and it's a slow process. I give myself two years to see if I can enjoy the game again.
Q. You are about to turn 50. With your track record... What drives you to continue?
A. The love for snooker. I love it madly. The problem is that when you love something so much and it doesn't give back to you, you get desperate. But I have been playing snooker since I was eight years old and I know that when everything is going well, it's the best thing in the world. Now that everything is going wrong, I need patience. If someone had told me 10 years ago that I would be like this, it would have seemed absolutely crazy to me. I never thought I could have such a bad relationship with snooker. That's why I don't want to quit now, not like this.
Q. Are you preparing for life after retirement?
A. It's hard to do. This year, since the cue incident, I have hardly played snooker and I have been very bored. I have spent days thinking, "What do I do now?" It happened to me in 2012 when I took a sabbatical year. I thought I would go running, go to the gym, have a lot of time for myself, and in reality, I did nothing. I got very bored. I realized that humans need a purpose, always have something to do. When I retire, maybe I will work as a snooker coach, start a podcast, or dedicate myself to motorsport, which I love.
Q. You are friends with Novak Djokovic, who is going through a similar process.
A. He is an example to me. He has a tremendous desire to be the best of all time, he is working with Andy [Murray] and wants to keep improving. That helps me. For him, the most important thing is not winning another Grand Slam, but regaining motivation, experiencing the process. Novak has the same challenge as me: to enjoy again. I have gone to see him at Wimbledon a couple of times, and it's phenomenal.
Q. Both of you are often named among the greatest athletes in history.
A. Ugh. I think of Novak, also Nadal, Federer, Woods, Verstappen, Hendry... there have been great athletes in history. For me, of all, the most important thing is not always the track record. What if Messi hadn't won the last World Cup? He would still be the best footballer in history. For me, the key is consistency and determination. People don't value that enough. Talent is often talked about, and it's very unfair. I think of Bolt. He made it look easy, but if you watch his documentary, you will see how hard he worked in training.
Q. In a recent interview, you mentioned that young people nowadays lack that determination.
A. The level has worsened in the Top 10. I believe there is more talent now than ever if we look at the overall picture, the players between 10 and 50 in the world rankings are better than before. But at the top of the list, it's not the same. There are still Higgins, Williams, or me, who are 50 years old. There are young players I like, I could watch Luca Brecel play every day, for example, but I think the level has dropped compared to 10, 15, or 20 years ago.
Q. Mark Williams, your longtime rival, said that you are still the one selling tickets for tournaments and attracting sponsors.
A. There are very interesting players on the circuit. Brecel, as I mentioned, Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui... I suppose he mentions me because I have always been clear that sports are for the fans, that they should go home thinking, "What a great time I had!". I want to enjoy again because it's the only way to leave fans with that feeling. I like boxing, and there are quite boring boxers, even if they win. Am I going to stay up late and pay 20 pounds for them? No, I need excitement.