Then, once the cue is officially hung up, he wants to run with the best Kenyan athletes.
And finally, at some stage within the next decade, he fancies becoming a Buddhist MONK in Thailand!
Say what you like about the Rocket but he is always entertaining — off the baize as well as on it.
Tomorrow O’Sullivan begins the defence of his BetVictor English Open crown in Crawley. It is his first ranking event of the 2018-19 season.
Yet O’Sullivan, who recently surpassed £10million in career prize money, has NOT been enjoying his snooker in recent years.
The 42-year-old plans to scale down his playing activity and continue to cut down on the constant travelling as he enters a new phase of “reinvention”.
While his world ranking will suffer, he thinks a reduced schedule could be his best chance, in the long-term, of adding to his tally of five world titles.
O’Sullivan may have won five tournaments last season but he told SunSport: “I have to be realistic. I’m in a rebuilding and reinventing phase of my game for the next year, 18 months or two years.
“I won’t play as many tournaments as the other guys. And my game will probably suffer because of that.
“But I’m saying that now, rather than answer the question in six months when people say: ‘Oh, he’s gone.’
“Sometimes it’s better to be open and realistic about the situation. You tend to get other players in the game saying you have gone because you aren’t winning as much as they expect.
“But I’ve always said: ‘Don’t write me off.’ I’ll let you know when I’m finished. And I’m not finished yet.
“I’m not quitting completely. Maybe in another six to nine months I’ll get the hunger back to travel more because my game is in good enough shape. Maybe then I might be prepared to put myself through a more strenuous schedule.”
Many argue O’Sullivan — who can play right AND left-handed — is the most gifted snooker player in history.
The man himself hopes he will be remembered somewhere in the middle between the “machines of the game” (Hendry and Davis) and the “people’s favourites” (Jimmy White and Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins).
He said: “Hopefully people will say I’ve won the titles but I also did it in a way that the snooker fans love to see snooker played.”
Of course, in the next few years, he could well have settled the “greatest of all time” debates, particularly if he adds three important records to his CV.
O’Sullivan, a Eurosport TV expert, said: “I’m sure I’ll break Hendry’s record of 36 ranking events (he already has 33).
“I know as long as I’m still alive in the next two years, I’ll get 1,000 centuries.
“If I can reinvent myself and go in the right direction, then eight world championships isn’t out of the question.
“If the cards fall right, I could go on until 50 as other players are showing it’s possible at the moment in snooker. I don’t see a reason why it can’t be achieved.”
Once his stellar career is officially done, O’Sullivan wants to travel. One trip will be to East Africa and then the Far East.
He said: “There are a few things I’d like to do after snooker. I’d like to go to Kenya and run with the Kenyans.
“I’d also like at some point to go to Thailand and live with Buddhist monks.
“These are things which interest me and are important to me.
“A friend of mine is a Buddhist. I had a feeling because he’s so peaceful and lovely. I thought: ‘I wouldn’t mind trying that.’
“Now isn’t the time because I’m too busy, and I have a family life.
“But it is one of those Bucket List things: to live in Thailand, maybe even have a sabbatical over there.”
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Yes, the title of the article is a bit misleading in relation to what Ronnie actually said. Of course he would LIKE to win 8 world titles, but I doubt that’s an official goal of his and even if it were, I don’t think he would publicize it.
It sure would be nice to see him win another one, though, especially so that he would move up from 4th on the list to 2nd. The 4th spot just doesn’t seem right for a player that the majority of observers consider to be the best ever.
I do think that one of the multiple reasons Ronnie is cutting back on his schedule/traveling this season is to give him a better chance at the Crucible, though I also know that Ronnie has a difficult time committing himself to the 17 or so days required to win there. Maybe that commitment will be easier for him to make when he has played a lighter schedule leading up to the event…
Yeah as much as I want him in particular to knock Selby off that ranking perch the circuit is too demanding especially for the older players and it’s clear the standard is suffering from overplay so perhaps is the best thing for a smaller snooker schedule, heck Ronnie tends to land the big titles quite easily when he’s had a good break, most famous of all was his last world title to date and the 2016 masters also came after a break, which he won pretty neatly besides the first round.
I long ago was sold he’s better than Hendry and it’s sad the ones adamant to boast Hendry is GOAT always cite the 7world titles, 7 vs 6 or even 5 really isn’t a great argument anyway but yeah want Ronnie to get 7 or more but same time am realising the fans want it more than he does, which isn’t fair on the great man he’ll really push for it if he wants it, I’d only give him no chance of winning another world title if he has no arms left haha!
While it is generous if Ronnie does play till at least 50 don’t want to imagine snooker after he’s gone, I am certain he will win at least 1 more world title before then hopefully that 1 = 2 or so in a row or a burst of them, who knows if he’s still winning comfortably or at least he’s enjoying competing he may push his retirement back! Anyway yeah sounds like a dream, I went Kenya 10years ago, amazing place… As for buddhism, I am an atheist but Buddhism is the best religion on earth to me, having some kung fu background where much of kung fu has buddhist roots it is a very benign religion (Yeah total antithesis to pro sports and competition haha, this Hearn’s snooker circuit is insane, the money rank system is horrid and bleeding the players to exhaustion and while big prize funds are nice it’s insane too seeing how big they are growing… YET Hearn stubbornly maintains a peanuts 147 prize fund, makes no sense)
So yeah I still believe Ronnie will make at least a 6th world title, he did say in one chat when he’s long dead his grave will say he’s top 5 GOAT snooker players he has 6 world titles (Hehe so he at least that interview/talk thinks he’ll end with 6 titles or at least definitely will not end with his 5)
Whatever works, rank chasing is bad for health, get the impression Selby even is weary of it we can tell by the mood of the players when they play and it’s so clear many aren’t that keen to be playing… If a less active season equals world titles and other big wins then great! Better to end a season with big ones than several smaller ones or near misses, Ronnie’s approach to seasons is interesting, whether he’s active or less active he still gets results thanks to his talent, very comfortable position vs most players who need to be active to keep the momentum going or to make ends meet for those lower down the rankings… All the best and however much or little he wins for the rest of his career he’s made far more impact and entertainment than anyother modern player, a true people’s champion! Hendry and Davis may have been more dominant in their primes than Ronnie but they gave little or nothing beyond their game to the fans at least in their heyday, Ronnie otherhand gave everything, he’s the one player that is bigger than what he has done on the table!
There was an interview a couple of years ago in which he wanted to be a (labour) politician. I guess I preferred that to the Buddhist monk scenario, though of course happy he only plans to do it after he retired. Wonder what his family will think about it… 🙂 The 8 world titles are a bit outlandish obviously, one more would already be great, let’s hope he’ll do today something towards increasing the number of ranking titles…