Peace, love and happiness …
Those are my wishes for all of you, and your loved ones, every day in your life.
Live
147 Attempts … and a few questions
Ronnie was with Eurosport UK today, doing some filming ahead of the home nations series
… and attempting to make a 147 live on FB and answering a few questions.
Here is the video shared by ES UK on FB
Despite not succeeding, Ronnie is confident that his game is in good shape. Regarding his concerns regarding the future of the game in the UK and Europe, one can only agree as yet another tournament has been won by a 40+ last week in Thailand
Mark Williams won the Sangsom Six Red World Championship for the first time by beating local favourite Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 8-2 in the final in Bangkok.
World number 17 Williams dominated the final against Thailand’s Un-Nooh to take the top prize of 3.5 million Baht (around £81,000).
It’s a first title for Welshman Williams since he won the World Seniors Championship in 2015.
Un-Nooh, who won this invitational title in front of his home crowd two years ago, started well with a break of 71 to take the opening frame, and was tied 2-2 after four frames. But two-time World Champion Williams then took control and won the last six frames with a top break of 50, restricting his opponent to just 30 points in that spell.
“When I came here I didn’t have any great hopes of winning this,” said 42-year-old Williams, who is using a new coaching methodthis season in a bid to regain his best. “I battled away and I’m so pleased to win an event. Today was the best I played all week. I wasn’t looking to make any big breaks, just to win frames.
“I think over the years I haven’t got any further than the last 16 of this event so I suppose I’ve surprised myself this week. I’ve won a lot of money playing in Thailand and China and I’ve become a good traveller.”
World number 39 Un-Nooh, who earned 1.3 million Baht, said: “Mark played very well. I couldn’t take any chances and when I missed he had all the answers.”
Polapatr Suvarnazorn, advisor to the president and CEO of the Thai Beverage Public Co.Ltd, presented the winner’s cheque while WPBSA chairman.Jason Ferguson handed over the runner-up prize.
Frames (Williams first) 0-71(71); 49-0;55-1;32-37; 39-0; 38-9; 54-0; 50(50)-0, 49-6;43-15.
Ronnie is in Hong Kong
He left the UK yesterday evening with Django Fung, from Grove, and both have arrived safely although Django, it seems, stressed a bit…
Indeed he tweeted:
Cant believe this lot flown me to HK
With that crew in the cockpit, what could possibly go wrong?
News from the twitter mill
Ronnie has been quite active on twitter recently and a few interesting pieces of information have filtered. I won’t quote everything relevant, instead you can just read through his twitter feed with replies over the last few days
Here is what I picked out … apart from his political activism:
There will be a sequel to the “American Hustle”, but this time it will be in China and about snooker rather than pool. That’s great news. Still with Matt Smith and probably filming it next spring/summer.
There will also be a sequel to “Framed”, titled “Double Kiss” and it’s due to be out in November. Ronnie believes it’s better than “Framed”
Regarding his snooker, Ronnie insisted that he has nothing to prove anymore, that it’s about enjoying it for him now and that snooker will have to leave time and space for the other things he’s doing. He won’t play a full calendar and, asked the question, refused to commit event to the majors. That said, answering a fan, he also declared that he believes he still has a sixth World in him, maybe even a seventh. He also revealed that he’s “cueless” right now, his old one being “ruined” and he needs a new one. This didn’t worry Joe Perry, who is playing in Shenzhen in Ronnie’s team later this month: “you only need 5 minutes to get used to a new cue” was the Gentleman reaction to the news.
Finally and just for the funny side of it, the man who admitted in his bios that he hated school, and retweets nutritionists advises at every opportunity, was having dinner with his young son, discussing how important education is nowadays… Enjoy the pictures he shared on twitter and the irony
Now a few thoughts about all this, and in particular Ronnie’s stance on snooker. As a fan, I want to see him play and win. As a person, and friend, I want to see him happy and this is more important to me than the fan’s point of view.
In many ways, this route Ronnie is taking is similar to what Roger Federer does in tennis. He picks and chooses. This season he skipped the clay “leg” completely, including Roland Garros. He was quoted by a commentator saying that it was about enjoyment now for him and that people shouldn’t forget that the reason tennismen started playing as kids is because they enjoyed it. Enjoyment is a big factor in a sportsperson longevity.
In the same vein, I also found this interview of Andre Agassi about his work with Novak Djokovic very revealing. I will quote just a short excerpt, but that I believe is very true and applies to Ronnie as well:
Do those long-term plans have numerical value like catching Roger Federer’s total of 18 Grand Slam wins?
‘It’s not about numbers,’ Agassi smiled. ‘The big long-term plan, for a guy like this, is no regrets. No regrets.
If Ronnie hangs his cue with no regrets, be it in 5, 10 or 20 years, or even tomorrow… I will miss watching him play, big time, but I’ll be happy for him. All of us human beings have only this life to live… even celebrities and sporting heroes. We should not forget.
Collector Mania – Birmingham
Ronnie was at Collector Mania, at the NEC, Birmingham yesterday, and, as many fans were thrilled to meet their idol in him, himself met a few of his …
Here is what he posted on Facebook:
Had fun today catching up with a few old friends and a few legends
And himself as well as fans shared a few images.
More interesting than an interview?
This one may please Adam … maybe.
This video was shared on twitter by Ronnie’s close friend Mike:
And Mike observed that Ronnie needs to start winning some more soon judging by the state of his shoes …
Need to win a few more tourneys @ronnieo147 look at the daisies @Snookerlegends
Now seriously, Ronnie has been working hard on his game in recent weeks and months, and at some point it will click. Hopefully in time for the big one.
And 2 and 1/2 hours later …
Ronnie’s soundtracks
Ronnie shared this on his facebook …
Following the broadcasting of American Hustle Ronnie was interviewed about the soundtracks of his life
Curious? Here they are …
Snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan: the soundtrack of my life
Leonie Cooper 5:33 pm – Feb 2, 2017
Ronnie O’Sullivan is a icon. A snooker legend. One of the greatest players of all time. And now he’s got himself a television show too – HISTORY’s American Hustle, which sees him exploring the Stateside story of pool. But what tunes are buzzing around in that beautiful brain? We found out. Read on for the Soundtrack Of My Life, Ronnie-style.
The first song I can remember hearing
Michael Jackson
‘Billie Jean’
“I must have been five or six years old. I became a huge Michael Jackson fan, he’s got so many great songs, but Billie Jean stuck out for me. I thought, ‘Wow, he’s a cool dude.’ He was a handsome, beautiful young man and so talented. He gave so much joy to people. He was a selfless man, because through his success he became quite isolated. It came at a price.”
The first song I fell in love with
Tracy Chapman
‘Fast Car’
“It’s a bit of a driving song and I love driving. I was in my first decent car and I was 17, 18 and I remember this song coming on and I thought ‘this is a buzz!’ I always have the CD in my car.”
The song I listen to with my son
Train
‘Drops Of Jupiter’
“It’s one of my favourite songs – they were on Sunday Brunch with us last month. I listen to it in the car with my 9 year old son – he loves it too and we play it five or six times on the trot.”
The song I wish I’d written
Ian Brown
‘F.E.A.R’
“My friend got me into him – I’d never heard of him before. We were in the car, driving to the UK Championships and he said ‘listen to this song’. Every sentence starts with F-E-A-R. I thought ‘this geezer is a lyrical genius’. He’s really thought about that one – or maybe he hasn’t, maybe it’s instinctive!”
The first gig I went to
Oasis
Knebworth, 1996
There were so many people there and everyone looked like Noel Gallagher! I went with my friend Stuart – he was a good lad. We went there and had a laugh.”
The song I do at karaoke
“I did it once at a club when I’d had a few drinks. I said to myself, ‘You will never, ever do that again’. It was embarrassing. I actually can’t remember what I sang, but I’m not a very good singer anyway because whenever I sing people say ‘you’re a terrible singer’. So that’s why I don’t sing. Once I tried playing guitar but for me it was like learning another language – I thought, ‘I ain’t got time for this!’ It didn’t really float my boat.”
The musician that reminds me of home
Rod Stewart
“He’s lives not far from where I live in Essex and when I was younger I remember my dad being into Rod Stewart and also Deacon Blue and people like that. My mum and dad were quite into their music; Tina Turner, Simply Red, Phil Collins. They were quite funky my mum and dad, they were always out – social animals!”
The song I want played at my funeral
Eminem
‘Lose Yourself’
“Sometimes you have to get so lost in something that you go into autopilot and start doing amazing things, but you have to be in the zone to do it. That’s what that song really means to me – if people can get to that space in their life where they experience that, then they’ve had a good life.”
