Ronnie, Mink and Zhao’s visit to RoSSA brought a magic moment when Ronnie made a 147 against Mink. What a way to officially open an Academy!

Here you can watch it, recorded from two differerent perspectives…

And here, as well, a short interview at the opening ceremony. Ronnie wants to develop the sport in Asia. In another part of the interview, he explained again why, as a parent, he wouldn’t want his children to take on snoooker professionally, whilst insisting that he loves his sport. I can relate to what he says. One of my children is a very talented artist, but she can’t make money from her art and you don’t live out of thin air…  In snooker, whatever WST claims, unless you are at the very top, you will struggle.

Reigning and seven-time snooker world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan launched his inaugural academy in Singapore on Saturday (11 June), and hopes to launch many more in the region to nurture talents in Asia. The Ronnie O’Sullivan Snooker Academy (RoSSA) is housed in a 16,000 square-foot venue at The Grandstand, with 12 snooker and 16 pool tables. Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong graced the opening ceremony with O’Sullivan. Widely-regarded as one of the greatest snooker players of all time, O’Sullivan’s seven world titles is a modern-day record he jointly holds with Stephen Hendry. The 46-year-old also believed the future of the sport lies in Asia with China likely to produce the continent’s first world champion. O’Sullivan also spoke about the difficulties in developing the sport back in the United Kingdom and, citing his own troubles in finding a venue to play the sport.

On the second day, the pros played against members of the public, and Ronnie answer some questions from the fans. That’s about what transpired… but with loads of pictures on social media, mainly thanks to Gappa Gappa …