Year: 2015

A night in Bulgaria …

Monique Snooker Legends event ,

Ronnie and Jimmy White were playing in Sofia, Bulgaria yesterday evening, in front of a 1000+ audience. Oleg Velinov, who promotes the PTCs there, was also present.

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They met the press before the show.
BulgariaPress

I won’t spoil you about the match, you can watch it here:

Exhibition (20.11.2015.): Ronnie O’Sullivan – Jimmy White

Ronnie has other talents too … is that part his after snooker plans?

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Tonight Ronnie will meet Stuart Bingham in Bucharest, Romania.

The fitters were busy yesterday … nice venue!

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A little piece in The Sun

Monique Interview

A little piece in The Sun

I don’t usually trust that paper much, but this piece isn’t sensationalist and it just confirms what we understood from Ronnie’s latest ES blog

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has no immediate plans to return to competitive snooker.

The five-time world champion lost a Crucible quarter-final to Stuart Bingham in April — the last time he featured in a tournament.

O’Sullivan, 39, will be a studio pundit for Eurosport during next week’s Betway UK Championship, a title he opted not to defend this year.

And The Rocket insists he loves his new role, alongside touring Europe playing exhibitions.

He said: “I don’t know if I will play competitively again. I am enjoying what I am doing.

“That was planned and not an accident.

“Really I started looking for other things back in about 2011 — it was almost luck, or an accident, that I played some really good stuff in the years that followed.

“Steve Davis was not at his peak from 32 or 33 onwards and Stephen Hendry the same.

“I had always assumed that would be me, too.

“But I won world titles at 36 and 37 and with the other wins at the Masters and the UK I surprised myself. It was almost bad timing on my part.”

Latest news …

Monique News

Yesterday Ronnie was at the O2 in London to watch Stan Wawrinka beat David Ferrer at the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals . He was interviewed after the match.

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Ronnie is a big fan of individual sports in general, and he loves tennis. His favourite player is Roger Federer but he likes Stan Wawrinka aggressive style a lot as well.

This year Ronnie will miss the final phase of the tournament; indeed tomorrow night he will play an exhibition with Jimmy White in Sofia, Bulgaria. After that, he’s Romania bound for two exhibition evenings in Bucharest with the reigning World Champion, Stuart Bingham.

Also tonight, PhoenixFM will broadcast the latest instalment  of the Midweek Matchzone Show. Paralympian Jonathan Adams will once again be Chris and Ronnie’s guest and will talk about the first World Disability snooker event to be held in Gloucester in about a week.

Ronnie speaks to Desmond Kane about his future

Monique Eurosport ,

I no longer want to be the top man in snooker says Ronnie in his latest Eurosport blog

Ronnie O’Sullivan is in Eastern Europe for exhibition matches before he joins Jimmy White as a full-time pundit in the Eurosport studio for the UK Championship. O’Sullivan won the UK title last year with a 10-9 win over Judd Trump, but has not played a competitive match since April. In his latest blog, he tells Desmond Kane he is thinking about a future without the stress of vying for titles.

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I’m trying different things at the moment. Anyone that’s coming to the end of their career has to think about the future, and that’s what I’ve been doing for the past three or four years. I’ve been planning what my next 15-20 years will be, and how I’d like them to be.

It’s been tough at times, but I truly feel I have a good idea of what it is I want. I don’t want the pressure of being the top man in snooker any more. I feel that should be left to the new generation of players.

I do want a place within the sport, and I’m trying to fathom what that place is.

It’s funny really. I’m actually enjoying my practice more then ever. I play for fun now. I still try to be the best I can be, but I don’t have to be so serious about being so committed to it.

I fit the time in when I feel like it. Me and my mates play a lot these days.

I give them 80-100 start, and it’s not easy to beat them, but I love the challenge. We have a laugh, and I’m always buzzing because you get lots of chances, and I don’t have to pick balls out that much, which is a bonus.

I know my game is way off where it should be in certain aspects. That’s natural as I’ve not played competitively for over seven months, but I can still pot a few.

My safety game would need sharpening up, but that would come from a few competitive matches.

My long game could also be better, but in the balls I still feel good, and that’s what keeps me going. I can make breaks and create opportunities. That’s what I love.

I also attended my first Q&A session with the fans the other day, and that was great, nice meal, good chat, told some funny stories, and was home in time to watch the football.

ENTERTAINING EASTERN EUROPE WITH JIMMY AND STUART

I’m off to Bulgaria this week to play Jimmy White, which will be fun. I always enjoy the trips around Europe. It’s a great chance to experience different cultures.

Everywhere we go, the people really do make us feel very welcome, and I can’t thank them enough for allowing me the opportunity to perform and entertain.

It’s a two-way street because without the fans there is no buzz.

After Bulgaria, we travel to Romania. I have two nights playing the world champion Stuart Bingham in Bucharest. I know people in Romania are very excited about our arrival, and again it’s a great opportunity to play in front of a new crowd.

It will be my first trip to Romania, and one I’m really excited about.

It’s great that snooker has gone global. it has given the players greater areas to explore, and we now know places are gasping to see top snooker players play, and it’s a great platform to use to showcase the sport.

So that is it for now. I will give you a report on my travels once I’m back.

Ronnie will provide expert analysis alongside Jimmy White and host Colin Murray of the UK Championship from November 28 until December 6 at York’s Barbican Centre on Eurosport. It is his first experience of tournament-long punditry adding to the exclusive ‘Ronnie O’Sullivan Show’ already broadcast on Eurosport.

I should have been a darts player says Ronnie to Desmond Kane

Monique Eurosport, Interview

This is the latest of Ronnie’s Eurosport blogs with Desmond Kane


Ronnie O’Sullivan explains to Desmond Kane why he is envious of the atmosphere created by darts fans as he travels up and down the country playing in raucous snooker exhibition events. The five-time world champion also admits he is relishing making his punditry debut alongside Jimmy White for Eurosport at the UK Championship later this month as his self-imposed sabbatical from snooker continues.

I’m on my way to another exhibition event in Kent while putting together this blog. We had a fantastic night in Portsmouth earlier this week. The atmosphere at the club nights is something I thrive on. It is noisy, and there’s a buzz in the air. I was saying to my mate the other day that I should have been a darts player. I just love the noise. In fact, when I’m playing they get so noisy that the crowd start telling the noisier lot to keep quiet. I quickly tell them to make more noise. I like it, it’s a buzz. Too much silence brings a tenseness that I don’t like. Is it too late for me to take darts up?

I think so, but I truly believe it’s great to play in that atmosphere (Former player) Willie Thorne was there this time, and he was great with the fans. The crowd loved him. My game was not looking good when I turned up. I’ve had a back injury that has stopped me from running or doing any exercise. Playing snooker has been out of the question to so last night was not looking good. But somehow I stretched the leg out, and it felt ok. I was able to get down on the shot, my game suddenly came back, and what a great feeling that is. That’s what we play the game for. I can’t believe how much I have enjoyed these nights, I really enjoy being on the move going to different towns and cities. Each night is different, you don’t know what you’re going to get.

I take a running friend too. I have learned it’s important to have like-minded people around you at all times. A typical day would see me get up at 7.30am to go out for a run, we generally do 35-45 mins. Get back, have a shower, and have some breakfast. Breakfast can last up to one or two hours depending on how the ambience is. Then it is back to the room for a snooze. Anyone that has got insomnia will know a little snooze is good. We then head down the motorway anytime between 11 and 1, making sure the traffic has died down Visiting new and old places to entertain the fans is a surprise and a pleasure every time. The crowds have been fantastic, and I’m growing into it. I actually prefer the exhibitions to playing in the major competitions. I’ve really embraced it.

I’m able to go for my shots, going for maximums every night and scoring big breaks. The fans have really loved it, which has made me love it. I was born to play snooker, it’s in my blood.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to compete in the major events, but I’ve been doing that for 25 years, and now is the time to enjoy all that I do.

There’s no pressure on me to prove myself anymore. All I want to do is play, the only pressure on me is the pressure of wanting to perform very well for the paying customers, but that’s always been the case for me. That will never change. I will continue to play exhibitions for the next 10-15 years because it is touring at its best.

I was listening to the comedian Jimmy Carr the other day, and he says he loves touring. I knew what he meant. I get the same feeling, I love driving up and down motorways, stopping off in service stations, staying in nice hotels and having great food.

I CAN’T WAIT TO MAKE DEBUT AS A PUNDIT ALONGSIDE ‘WHIRLWIND’

The exhibitions is one part of my life that I’m really enjoying, the other part is the Eurosport work. I’m really enjoying the balance of doing my Eurosport work, and am really looking forward to my punditry work for the UK Championship. It’s a great chance to watch some high class snooker, this time without the pressure of having to pot balls. This time I’m going to be able to watch all the other guys handle the big occasion, and what better way to do it than being on the couch passing opinion with Jimmy. The shows are going great too, and I think we have done a great job. I love all the feedback from the people who watch the show. It’s important we know what you like and don’t like. That way we can give the viewers the perfect show.

RONNIE’S NEXT BLOG IS OUT ON SUNDAY: ‘WHAT FUTURE HOLDS AFTER SEVEN MONTHS OUT’