As I expected, Ronnie didn’t win SPOTY, he was not even voted into the top 3. Ronnie didn’t attend the show – he’s in Dubai – but he made himself available for a chat over the Internet. For once, snooker got more than a meagre 30 seconds of TV time… they got just above 6 minutes. Yeah! Not that it changed anything fundamentally….
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN TO ‘WAIT AND SEE’ ON EIGHTH WORLD TITLE TILT – ‘I DON’T KNOW IF AGE IS CATCHING UP WITH ME’
Ronnie O’Sullivan will be chasing history – a record eighth world championship title – if he plays at the Crucible next year, but the 47-year-old said that winning it will be far from a formality. O’Sullivan was speaking at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, where he was nominated for the overall individual award.
Ronnie O’Sullivan says he will have to “wait and see” about a tilt at an eighth World Championship title, saying that it will depend upon “timing and form”.
O’Sullivan landed his seventh world title earlier this year, equalling Stephen Hendry’s record in snooker’s blue-riband event.
But talking at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award – where he was one of the nominees for the overall individual award – O’Sullivan said going for an eighth is not a formality, especially given his age of 47.
“When I first turned pro I was happy with one [world title],” O’Sullivan told host Gary Lineker.
“That was my dream, to win one World Championship. I always remember that and I never try to get greedy. Anything after one, two, three or even four you just kind of go ‘well each one is a bonus‘.
“If I was to get an eighth that would be fantastic but it’s really tough these days. There are a lot of good young players coming through, there’s a lot of good talent and I don’t know if age is catching up with me.
“We have to wait and see. I think a lot of it is a bit of luck, timing.
“I don’t know if I’m going to go for an eighth but I’ll have a good idea come a week before [worlds venue] the Crucible whether I’m in good enough shape to do it. If I am then it’s on, but it’s just all about timing and my form has to be good.
“If it’s good then I’ve got a chance.“
O’Sullivan was asked about his memorable, lengthy embrace with finalist Judd Trump after his latest Crucible win, and admitted it was to do with the effort required to have won the tournament.
The Rocket said: “In many ways at my age I was just more tired the last two world championships I won – 2020 and 2022 – I just felt so much more tired getting over the line when just physically I didn’t feel like I had it in me.
“You’ve got nothing left to give whereas when I won it in 2012, 2013 I felt like I could go again for another 17 days.
“The enormity hits you a bit more when you think physically I just don’t know how I did it. Before I felt quite comfortable. All of those feelings hit me at once.“
O’Sullivan, though not there in person, was among sporting royalty at the BBC event, and opened up on how he has been able to perform for so long at the top level, especially in the worlds.
“I feel it’s a combination,” he said. “The top players rise to the biggest occasion and the ones who feel the pressure a bit more don’t perform as well at the Crucible.
“The Crucible is a venue like no other. The pressure that it provides can make you or break you and that’s why you get a lot of the same type of winners: Me, Hendry, [Steve] Davis, [Mark] Selby, [John] Higgins, [Mark] Williams, because we perform a lot better under the pressure than the other guys, so I think it’s a mixture of both really.“
Here is Ronnie’s bit in the show …
It doesn’t come to surprise to me at all, alas. Even before the show, twitter was full of “scorn”… guys arguing that snooker isn’t even a sport, but just a pub game. In many ways, snooker’s poor record in SPOTY in the last two decades is a reflection of that perception. Becoming an olympic sport would probably help. Also snooker is not perceived as being physically demanding. Ok, it’s not requiring a lot of physical “brute force”, but it requires huge eye/hand coordination, tactical nous, control over the emotions, sustained concentration. Last time I checked, my brain, eyes, hands and nervous system where still part of my physical person.
I believe that there are two main factors “working” against snooker: unless you actually understand the game, it’s not spectacular and it’s not, in essence, a team sport. The first factor means that the casual viewer rarely gets “hooked” on it and the second factor means that it doesn’t particularly appeal to the “tribal” side of the human nature. The latter was the key factor contributing to Beth Mead’s win this year IMO. There is a third element that probably plays a role too. SPOTY is a BBC thing, and BBC only shows three snooker events nowadays. OK, they are three big ones, most notably the World championship, but there are also very long periods of time during which they barely show a thing or speak about any of it, unless there is some scandal affecting the sport.
Never mind… life and snooker go on.
WST has published the draw and format for the 2023 World Grand Prix
World Grand Prix Match Schedule
The format for next month’s World Grand Prix in Cheltenham is now confirmed, with star names including Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Allen, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby in the line up.
The top 32 players on the one-year ranking list qualify for the first event in the 2023 Players Series, to run from January 16 to 22 at the Centaur Arena at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Defending champion O’Sullivan meets Barry Hawkins in the first round on Tuesday January 17th at 7pm. In the same evening session, Judd Trump is up against Shoot out champion Hossein Vafaei.
Mark Allen, leader of the one-year list, is up against David Gilbert on the opening night, Monday January 16th at 7pm.
The first round draw and schedule is below, see the format link above for the schedule for the second round onwards.
Mark Allen (1) v David Gilbert (32): Monday January 16th at 7pm Lyu Haotian (17) v Joe O’Connor (16) Tuesday January 17th 7pm Zhou Yuelong (9) v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (24) Monday January 16th at 7pm Robert Milkins (25) v Jack Lisowski (8) Monday January 16th evening session —————————————- Noppon Saengkham (28) v Mark Selby (5) Tuesday January 17th afternoon session Ronnie O’Sullivan (21) v Barry Hawkins (12) Tuesday January 17th 7pm Mark Williams (13) v Jamie Jones (20) Monday January 16th evening session Ding Junhui (4) v Stuart Bingham (29) Tuesday January 17th afternoon session —————————————- Kyren Wilson (3) v Robbie Williams (30) Tuesday January 17th evening session Shaun Murphy (14) v Ali Carter (19) Wednesday January 18th 1pm Sam Craigie (22) v Tom Ford (11) Wednesday January 18th 1pm Gary Wilson (6) v Anthony McGill (27) Wednesday January 18th afternoon session —————————————- Luca Brecel (7) v Joe Perry (26) Wednesday January 18th afternoon session Hossein Vafaei (23) v Judd Trump (10) Tuesday January 17th evening session Xiao Guodong (18) v Neil Robertson (15) Tuesday January 17th at 1pm Ricky Walden (31) v Ryan Day (2) Tuesday January 17th at 1pm
The tournament will be televised by ITV and a range of other broadcasters worldwide. It’s the first event in the 2023 Players Series, to be followed by the Players Championship in Wolverhampton and the Tour Championship in Hull.
Joe Perry will begin the defence of his BetVictor Welsh Open title against Mark King in February when snooker’s greatest stars head to Llandudno.
The draw for the tournament has been made, with the qualifying rounds to run from January 11 to 13 in Barnsley, followed by the main event from February 13 to 19 at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, North Wales.
Perry won a ranking title on British soil for the first time when he beat Judd Trump in the final in Newport last season, and he’ll be up against King in round one in Llandudno. World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan will meet Oliver Lines, while three-time Crucible king Mark Williams will face Michael White in an all-Welsh clash.
Other great names in the field include Trump, Mark Selby, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson. Matches involving the top 16 seeds have all been held over to the venue in Llandudno, as well as two matches involving the national wild cards. They are:
Liam Davies, age 16 from Newport, will face Noppon Saengkham in the first round. Davies has won multiple World and European titles at junior level, and last season he became the youngest player to win a match in the World Championship.
Oliver Briffett-Payne, age 17 from Risca, will face Robbie Williams in the first round. Briffett-Payne is a regular finalist in junior ranking events and captained Wales Under-21s at the Home Internationals in 2022.
In the qualifying rounds in January, notable matches include Matthew Stevens against Fan Zhengyi, David Gilbert facing Marco Fu and Ken Doherty against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
The Welsh Open has been ever present on the snooker calendar since 1992 – the sport’s longest running ranking event other than the World Championship and UK Championship. It has an international television audience of hundreds of millions, with live coverage from broadcasters including Eurosport, discovery+, Quest, BBC Wales and CCTV5 in China.
It is the last in the season’s BetVictor Home Nations Series, and also the last event in the 2022/23 BetVictor Series, with the money-list leader at the end of the week to collect a huge £150,000 bonus.
Details on the match schedule for Llandudno will be announced soon.
Week 5 at “The 900” concluded on Wednesday and there was more excitement and drama.
Here is what happened:
On Monday
Jamie Curtis-Barrett won day 1 beating Nigel Bond in the final.
On Tuesday
Lee Martin won day 2 beating Daniel Ward, Reanne Evans partner, in the final
On Wednesday
Philip Williams, who plays on the Seniors Tour regularly beat Patsy Fagan in the Final. It’s a remarkable achievement from Patsy, who is 71 years of age. Patsy was the winner of the inaugural UK Championship in 1977 … That was 45 years ago.
Here are some more images…
Ali Carter was in the studio … all smiles.
Wytech is a new sponsor for the series. The company belongs to Mark Jones, Hannah Jones’ father.
Next week we start again with this line-up:
Jason Francis also shared those two short videos on twitter
Scotland’s top player John Higgins, World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy and defending champion Luca Brecel will all be in action on the first day of the BetVictor Scottish Open in Edinburgh on Monday November 28.
The tournament will be staged at the Meadowbank Sports Centre for the first time and it will be the first professional snooker event in Edinburgh since 2003. And fans can enjoy watching a stellar field of the world’s top stars. Key first round matches include:
Luca Brecel v Fraser Patrick on Monday November 28 at 10am Judd Trump v Sanderson Lam on Monday November 28 at 1pm John Higgins v Anthony Hamilton on Monday November 28 during the afternoon session Ronnie O’Sullivan v Bai Langning on Monday November 28 at 7pm Neil Robertson v Mark Davis on Monday November 28 during the evening session Kyren Wilson v three-time Women’s World Champion Ng On Yee on Tuesday November 29 during the afternoon session
In all there will be over 70 players in the field, including Scottish potters Stephen Maguire, Anthony McGill and Graeme Dott.
Four-time World Champion Higgins, who lost to Brecel in the final last year, said: “It’s brilliant news for the Scottish players as we have really missed the chance to play in our home tournament over the last couple of years. I think there’s a lot of support for snooker and a lot of people playing the game in Edinburgh. I would love to win it in front of my own fans.”
And the great news of today… Snooker Scene is back, with Nick Metcalfe as the new editor
Seventh Heaven – premiering on 15 October at 8pm on discovery+ and Eurosport across Europe – documents the career of Ronnie O’Sullivan as he re-visits key moments, from bursting onto the scene at the 1993 World Championship as a 17-year-old, all the way to this year’s record-equalling seventh Crucible crown.
Eurosport pundit Alan McManus discusses many of those moments with O’Sullivan, including the fastest ever 147 break in 1997, and the shots he played left-handed against Alain Robidoux in 1996. In the same episode, the current world number one recalls the absence of his father during the early part of his career, which led to substance abuse and a period in rehab. O’Sullivan also reflects on the impact Dr Steve Peters has had on his career.
The second half of the film sees O’Sullivan return to the Crucible for the first time since May. The Rocket recalls memories of his multitude of victories in Sheffield, including this year’s emotionally-charged final with Judd Trump. He discusses his relationship with his children before taking stock of an incredible career that shows no sign of winding down.
Scott Young, SVP Content and Production at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, said: “The release of Seventh Heaven on our platforms across Europe is the perfect way to whet the appetite of sports fans as the snooker season gets into full flow. With the help of our exclusive close relationship with Ronnie, combined with unseen footage, the two hour show offers an intriguing insight into one of sport’s most fascinating characters.
To be honest, I don’t expect that many new things to emerge from this documentary. Obviously some in the media have already watched the show as there has been plenty of articles out in recent days, tackling various aspects/moments in Ronnie’s career. Nothing really new or unexpected came out.
The snooker season will soon be fully awake after a few months in which it’s opened its eyes only to close them again.
The British Open, which gets underway later this month, is only the third event since the new campaign began in June. The calendar has been difficult to plan because of ongoing uncertainty over Covid in China, which means the five lucrative competitions previously staged there remain in cold storage for now.
But suggestions of crisis have been overstated. There are 15 ranking events on this season’s schedule, 12 of which are open to the whole tour, plus the usual elite invitation tournaments and the new World Mixed Doubles Championship.
So players at the top end of the game will soon have plenty to play in while those lower down the rankings have recently been offered a £20,000 earnings’ guarantee by World Snooker Tour to ease some of the financial burden. Discussions are meanwhile ongoing for new events in Europe, with the potential for these to be added to the calendar this season.
But which players will come good when the action finally restarts?
Ronnie O’Sullivan begins the season in a stronger position than ever. World champion for a record equalling seventh time and world no.1, this sporting colossus has never enjoyed a higher profile and it will grow even further when the documentary filmed about him over the last 12 months is aired later this year.
t’s been said many times, but what a career he’s had. His first ranking title came in November 1993, his most recent in May 2022. He has had to face an array of formidable challengers in those three decades, sometimes coming up short but always coming back.
Looking down now from the mountaintop, O’Sullivan has nothing left to prove, which makes him especially dangerous to his main rivals, none of whom can approach the new term with the same relaxed attitude.
Perhaps the greatest unknown quantity is Mark Selby. Last season was a write-off for the four times world champion as he faced up to problems he had long kept bottled up. He is in a better place now but, to complicate things, he recently suffered neck pain which has required treatment.
Selby is ranked third in the official two-year list but factoring in the points which will come off his ranking, including the 500,000 he won at the Crucible in 2021, his provisional end of season position is currently a perilous 24th.
There is plenty of time for that to change before May, but Selby needs to start winning matches soon. Otherwise it is not impossible that he could head to Sheffield in the spring in danger of being relegated from the elite top 16.
Judd Trump suffered what was perhaps an inevitable backwards step last season after three extraordinary campaigns from 2018 to 2021 in which he won 14 ranking titles, plus the Masters.
That hit rate was always going to be hard to keep up. Last season he won one ranking title, the new Turkish Masters, plus the prestigious Champion of Champions and reached the world final, not a bad year but not as impressive as what had come before.
By now it may have been expected, not least by Trump himself, that he would have taken over from O’Sullivan as the sport’s preeminent figure, but he was outplayed by him for long sections of their Crucible final. The challenge for Trump this season is to wrest back trophies but also the limelight.
Those perennial warhorses John Higgins and Mark Williams each produced a high standard last season but were left rueing several near misses between them. Higgins reached six finals but won only one. In three where he finished runner-up he had been a frame from victory, most notably 9-4 up to Neil Robertson in the Tour Championship only to lose 10-9.
Williams won the British Open but lost a decider to Robertson in the Masters semi-finals after the Australian needed two snookers, a last frame thriller to O’Sullivan in the Tour Championship quarter-finals and yet another deciding frame in the World Championship semis where Trump beat him 17-16 in a Crucible classic.
Higgins and Williams are the very opposite of underachievers but these close defeats still sting, even 30 years on from turning pro.
Robertson has been on an extended break after a stellar season in which he won four big titles before coming up short again in Sheffield, losing 13-12 to Jack Lisowski in the second round despite making a maximum break in the final session.
The Melbourne left-hander will play in the mixed doubles competition but has not entered the campaign’s first three tournaments and so won’t be seen in a ranking event until the Northern Ireland Open in October – six months after his Crucible defeat.
This may seem odd but Robertson has enough money and ranking points in the bank to take a lengthy break, and there have been so few events in the meantime that, even if he is rusty, it’s not as if anyone else will be particularly sharp.
The main challenge to the established order seems likely to come from China, with Zhao Xintong, 25, and Yan Bingtao, 22, leading the charge.
Zhao sensationally broke through last season by winning the UK Championship and swiftly followed this up with victory at the German Masters. Things unravelled a little at the end of the campaign when he lost 10-9 from 8-4 up to Higgins at the Tour Championship before a second-round exit at the Crucible.
When players suddenly achieve success, expectations change – their own as much as other people’s. But Zhao is an outstanding talent with an apparent ability to just enjoy what he is doing. He doesn’t have the mental scars of the older players and plays an eye-catching game that makes him an obvious crowd favourite.
Yan is younger than his good friend but his game is more layered. He won the longest frame in Crucible history against Selby last April, an 85-minute grind, and was also completely unfazed by a pigeon landing on the table during the same match.
However, Yan also lost 9-0 to Zhao in their German Masters final, so if anything a lack of consistency seems to be his Achilles’ heel. If he can achieve a more reliable baseline level of performance he could do some real damage.
Kyren Wilson, a top player lacking the titles of those around him in the rankings, made a good start to remedying that by winning the European Masters in Germany last month. Barry Hawkins had played superbly before his form collapsed in the title match, a worrying trend for a player who has now lost six of his nine ranking finals.
Shaun Murphy and Mark Allenhave shed so much weight between them this summer that they’ve had to invest in new wardrobes. They remain players who, on any given week, could win any given tournament. What difference will the new healthier approach make? Snooker is not a physical sport but stamina is important, as is mental health, and fitness can do wonders for that.
A familiar question looms over Lisowski: can he finally win a ranking title? Dashingly talented but at times frustratingly erratic, he has done superbly well to bed himself into the elite top 16 without landing a trophy. Lisowski demonstrated genuine steel to beat Robertson at Sheffield and took Higgins to a decider in the quarter-finals, a display which suggested that the next step for him isn’t far away.
A player to watch closely is Hossein Vafaei, Iran’s representative on tour who seems to be improving all the time. He won the Shootout last season and has every chance to end the current campaign as a top 16 player.
Last season we saw unlikely title wins for the little known Chinese player Fan Zhengyi, an out of form Joe Perry and Robert Milkins, whose game seemed to have completely gone before he came good at the Gibraltar Open. There is greater strength in depth through the ranks now than ever, so further success for players down the list often derided as journeymen is entirely possible.
Young talent in Britain is thinner on the ground than it once was but 21 year-old Welshmen Jackson Page and Dylan Emery are both promising prospects. Chinese hopefuls such as Pang Junxu and Wu Yize could also be dangerous.
The problem for everyone is plain: there are only so many tournaments so there can only be so many winners. Plenty of players will produce a high standard but ultimately come away empty-handed.
The snooker season is one long game of thrones, where heart, nerve and luck are all required to weather the various storms a player will face. Some weeks you’re up, some you’re down. Sometimes nothing clicks, and then suddenly it all comes together.
Fans of the sport these days are rewarded with a greater variety of winners, some familiar, some unexpected. These are the players who we now rely on to rebuild snooker’s profile after such a lengthy break.
I’m a bit surprised that there is no mention of Luca Brecel, Stuart Bingham and Ricky Walden in David’s analysis. Those three are currently in the top 16. Stuart has been a strong presence at the top since he won the World Championship in 2015. Luca is only 27 and has three ranking events to his name. Last season he reached the final of the UK championship and won the Scottish Open. This summer, he has already won the ranking Championship League, the season opener. He could do really well this season. Ricky is also the winner of three ranking events. Back injuries have derailed his career but he is now back in the top 16 and I rate him very high.
Me, I will of course follow the two Belgian rookies: Ben Mertens and Julien Leclercq. Other than those two, I will look at the performances and results of Michael White and Lyu Haotian, two players who showed phenomenal talent as teenagers but whose careers derailed badly because of a combination of external factors and personal issues. I hope that both can finally do their talent justice.
This is how the calendar looks like (without the qualifying rounds except for the World qualifiers)
Clive Everton MBE, founder and editor of Snooker Scene magazine since 1971, has stepped down after more than 50 years at the helm.
Clive hopes to find a buyer to take the magazine forward, otherwise September’s issue will be the last.
An amalgamation of previous publications called Billiards and Snooker and World Snooker, the first edition of Snooker Scene was published in 1972, costing 12p.
Originally intended as a monthly record of results and reports from tournaments, over time the magazine became a much more significant influence across the sport.
Clive, a leading commentator for BBC from 1978, was also the sharpest journalist of the sport’s 1980s boom years. Unafraid to challenge authority, he would regularly scrutinise the actions of the sport’s decision-makers in Snooker Scene’s pages.
During the late 2000s, Clive played a vital role in the revolution which led to the WPBSA and WST coming under the wing of Matchroom Sport and Barry Hearn taking control. As declared on the front cover, the magazine told fans what was really going on in the corridors of power.
At its peak in 1989, Snooker Scene had 21,850 subscribers. Up until today it still has a loyal following. It has introduced many new fans to snooker, and has been a constant companion to those who follow the sport month by month.
Clive joins the Hall of Fame in 2017
Clive, who was inducted into the Snooker Hall of Fame in 2017 and awarded an MBE in 2019, told us: “It’s the end of a very long era and I feel a great sense of pride. The magazine has been a reliable record. It has had an impact on the politics of snooker because I wanted to keep the readership informed. Barry Hearn’s transformation of the sport might never have happened otherwise.
“I am glad to have made a contribution and to have left snooker in a better state than I found it. Billiards and snooker has always been my passion and I am fortunate that I have been able to make a living out of that.”
His final editorial began: “This is an editorial I have dreaded ever having to write but a combination of factors has led me, with the utmost sadness and regret, to decide that this issue of Snooker Scene will be the last under my ownership/editorship.
“It has been a key part of my life for the last 51 years, appearing monthly since January 1971 apart from two months during the first Coronavirus lockdown. I shall miss it dreadfully. Although I will be 85 this month, I was fully intending until very recently to continue to at least until the end of the season but conversations with doctors, accountants and colleagues have led me to conclude that this, our 619th issue, should be my last.”
In a joint statement, WST Chairman Steve Dawson and WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson said: “We congratulate Clive for the incredible feat of editing Snooker Scene for over 50 years. This must be a unique achievement in the sporting world. For many years, particularly in the pre-digital age, it was the most important source of information on snooker. Countless fans would have relished that moment every month when the magazine dropped through the letterbox.
“Clive has been a remarkable servant to our sport, through his playing days, his times as a commentator and journalist, and as a friend and mentor to many people throughout snooker. We wish him all the best for his retirement and hope our fans worldwide will join us in saluting his contribution.”
Ken Doherty added on Twitter: “So sorry to see the end of the ever popular Snooker Scene magazine. I grew up through the early 80s reading about pro comps, pro-ams and young players coming through, hoping my name would be in there one day. Clive Everton has been an outstanding journalist for snooker, a pioneer.”
It’s hard to describe my feelings at this time. I have been one of the “loyal followers” and have kept every single issue I received since I subscribed. I also have been a contributor, providing pictures for most issues between 2012 and 2018. It really feels like the end of something I cherished.
I also met Clive countless times at events, notably at Premier League fixtures as early as 2007. He has a remarkably preceptive mind and immense knowledge of the game.
We were both present when Stephen Lee played his last ever match as a professional, on 11th of October 2012. Clive was commentating, I was taking pictures. Clive immediately understood what was going on and he was quite baffled too as it had only been nine days since the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) had released a statement confirming that the Crown Prosecution Service would not be taking further action against Lee over claims of match fixing relative to a 2009 UK Championship match. Clive’s deep concerns however were not about Lee, they were about the negative impact this incident could possibly have on snooker as a sport, a sport he loves with a passion.
Happy retirement Clive, and take good care of yourself. Snooker Scene will be missed.
Magazines like Snooker Scene don’t sell easily nowadays as they have largely been “overthrown” by digital media: blogs, podcasts, youtube videos and more. This is a concern to me however because proper and honest “paper” magazines and books, if kept in libraries, are our faithful “memories” of past events. They report on the context around them, and contain in-depth analysis . Current digital media can of course be released much more quickly after the events and at a lower cost, but rarely go very deep into their analysis. And also there is the important question of their integral conservation without alterations over time.
World Championship Had 14 Million Streams On iPlayer
This year’s World Snooker Championship had a huge 13,922,000 streams on the BBC iPlayer, more than popular drama programmes such as Conversations With Friends and Doctor Who.
A report from BBC shows that snooker’s 17-day Crucible showpiece was the eighth most watched programme on the iPlayer between April and June this year, when compared to ‘boxset’ style shows. Wimbledon was the only sporting event to attract more streams over the same period, with 14,442,000 (albeit Wimbledon only ran for four days in June).
Conversations With Friends had 13,045,000 streams, with Doctor Who just behind on 12,913,000.
In May we reported that the final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump had a peak audience of 4.5 million viewers on BBC, the highest figure for eight years.
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, which shows the tournament in over 50 countries across Europe, also recorded extremely strong figures on its Eurosport linear channel. Overall the World Championship was its best tournament on record in the UK in terms of average audience and market share with the final seeing a 29% increase against 2021. Other countries including Italy, Poland, Spain, Germany and France also hit record numbers on Eurosport.
I know that some will disagree, just for the sake of it, but I’m 100% certain this mediatic success has to do with Ronnie winning it for the 7th time, and definitely sealing his status as the greatest snooker player of all times (so far).
Ronnie O’Sullivan: ‘I feel like I’ve underachieved, that will never change’
Phil Haigh Wednesday 17 Aug 2022
Ronnie O’Sullivan feels he could have won much more over his immense career (Picture: Getty Images)
Ronnie O’Sullivan feels he has underachieved in his snooker career and will always feel that way, despite widely being considered the greatest player to ever pick up a cue.
The Rocket won his seventh World Championship title this year, equalling Stephen Hendry’s record tally and largely ending the debate to which of the two is snooker’s GOAT.
At 46 years old O’Sullivan is back at the top of the world rankings and won his latest Crucible crown in some style, largely looking untroubled despite facing the likes of John Higgins and Judd Trump along the way.
His achievements on the table are immense, but he feels that there could and should have been more silverware in the cabinet over his epic career, having turned professional back in 1992.
This is not the Rocket whinging or getting down on himself, he describes himself as ‘comfortable’ with what he has achieved, but his mindset will never let him be fully satisfied.
‘I’m comfortable with what I’ve achieved in my sport. I’m up there, me and Hendry, it’s a debate, I’m happy to be in the debate,’ O’Sullivan told The Climb Podcast. ‘But I’m comfortable with the facts and what I’ve done over the years.
‘Whether I feel like I’ve done a good job or not, I don’t think I have, I feel like I could have done better, I feel like I’ve underachieved.
‘That will never change, but facts speak for themselves, I’m comfortable with getting out my piece of paper and saying: “That’s my CV, what do you reckon? Do I get the job?”
‘I’m comfortable that my results have allowed me to not worry about not playing well, not winning tournaments, getting beat in the quarters, people judging me.’
O’Sullivan has often felt that he needs to prove himself to people over his career, given the enormous expectation that has been on him since his teenage years, but he says that is no longer in his mind.
The legend of the baize feels he can now block out any comments on his performances or results from those who clearly don’t know what it is like to be in his shoes.
‘They don’t even know what it’s like to be where I’ve been, where I go,’ he continued. ‘It’s a very lonely place with people talking like they know what it’s like to be there, they couldn’t stand it for five minutes, they’d run a mile.
O’Sullivan made yet more snooker history with his seventh world title in May (Picture: Getty Images)
‘The pressure, the anxiety, the stress and expectations that come with it, it takes a lot more than just being talented.
‘It takes character, bollocks, courage, all sorts of things…dedication, discipline, challenging yourself, it takes you wanting to take yourself apart and build yourself back together.
‘That ain’t easy to do, but you’ve got to be willing to do that to be one of the most successful people at what you do.
‘So I don’t worry about what people say or think about me anymore, because they don’t know.’
Those feelings are genuine and they have to do with Ronnie’s own perfectionist and anxious nature. But I believe that they also have to do with the weigth of “external” expectations, and faith, coming from the media and … from his own father. It’s good that he doesn’t allow them to bother him anymore.
I remember once sitting in a media room with Phil Yates. Phil was telling me how Ronnie was a massive underachiever. It’s true that, at the time, Ronnie had “only” won three World titles. In the course of the discussion, I pointed out to Phil all the things that Ronnie had had to overcome as a very young person, without even being allowed some privacy to deal with his griefs and issues: both parents going to prison, personal issues with depression, alcohol and drugs, etc… Contrary to so many others, he had come out of those things, better and stronger and achieved a lot. Phil and me ended up agreeing that judging Ronnie on talent only, not taking into account the circumstances of his life, wasn’t actually fair.
Ronnie Senior is an extremely proud father who has total faith in his son’s capabilities, more faith than his son himself actually. It’s great but sometimes it’s hard to take too, because the said son is only human and Senior can be brutal at times. Here is an telling anecdote… Ronnie and me were in his car, on our way to one of the Premier League features. Ronnie wasn’t looking forward to it. That night he was due to play his close friend Jimmy White. Jimmy was going through a bad patch, financially as well as healthwise. Ronnie only needed two frames that nigth to secure his play-offs place. His heart was telling him to maybe not try that hard and give Jimmy some chances, his honesty was telling him to block those feelings out and try his best. He wasn’t in a good place, he had told me so much but still ended up winning that match by 6-0… During the trip his father called. He was all fighting talk. He however sensed that his son was not on the same “tune”, got angry and started to shout and say some very harsh words, including “underachiever”. He probably only wanted to spur him up, but it actually hurt Ronnie, badly. I could see that he was close to tears.
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump will be on opposing teams in the opening match of the new BetVictor World Mixed Doubles in Milton Keynes next month.
The innovative tournament sees the world’s top four men each paired with one of the top four women in a team format. Televised live by ITV, the invitation event runs over the weekend of Saturday September 24 and Sunday September 25 at the Marshall Arena at MK Stadium in Milton Keynes.
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The teams will compete in a round robin format, each match played over four frames. At the end of the group phase, the top two teams will go through to the final, which will be best of seven frames. The two players in a team will make alternate visits to the table (rather than alternate shots)
The Saturday afternoon session fixtures, from 1pm, will be:
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Reanne Evans versus Judd Trump and Ng On Yee
Followed by Mark Selby and Rebecca Kenna versus Neil Robertson and Mink Nutcharut.
On the Saturday evening from 7pm, the two losing teams from the afternoon matches will go head to head, then the two winning teams will meet.
All four teams will be in action again on the Sunday afternoon 1pm session, with the order of play to be announced on the Saturday evening. The top two teams from the group stage will go through to the final on Sunday from 7pm.
A WST spokesman said: “It’s a fantastic format and we’re delighted to start the event with Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump going head to head in their respective teams, reviving memories of their World Championship final clash earlier this year when the Rocket won his seventh Crucible crown.
“It’s an incredible line up of players and we’re fascinated to see how they will adapt to the team format. Snooker is one of the very few major sports where men and women can compete together and this is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our sport to a huge audience both in the arena and on ITV’s main channel.
“Now that the format has been released we expect to see any remaining tickets sell fast, so fans are urged to take the opportunity to see snooker’s most decorated stars compete in a unique format.”
The video shared by in the comments section by Kalacs is part of the Breakdown podcast episode where Ronnie will talk about pressure, training, anxiety and more. The full episode will be out next week. This information was shared on twitter by Eurosport and Ronnie himself.
Ronnie O’Sullivan reveals hopes to open food bank: ‘I need challenges like that’
Phil Haigh Monday 15 Aug 2022
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For years now he has tried to not put all his eggs in the snooker basket, diversifying his interests to keep the pressure off his potting and give his mind other things to focus on.
This is partly in preparation for when playing his chosen sport is no longer an option, but at the same time he believes it has helped him prolong his career at the very top.
‘It’s very dangerous for any sportsman to just invest totally in the sport,’ O’Sullivan told The Climb Podcast. ‘I see it with snooker players, they invest so much in snooker that when it’s over, it’s like, “Who am I? What can I do?”
‘I don’t want to be that person who finishes his career and just feels lost. It’s so important to have a purpose in life. For me I’m always looking for the next purpose and it can never be snooker.
‘It’s too demanding, it’s too difficult, it’s too on your own, it’s too fickle. To try and invest your whole time and energy and it can be taken away from you – not because of anything you’ve done, but the competition might be better or you have a bad back – so you think, I can’t play, so what do I do? It’s difficult to make that transition, I think.’
O’Sullivan does punditry work, has written books, occasionally opens a shop and is always engaged with his running, but he now has a new focus ahead of him.
‘I woke up the other morning and thought these last weeks since I won the World Championships, the first week I was knackered and a bit low and didn’t feel like doing anything,’ Ronnie continued.
‘Then I came out of it, but it wasn’t as good a payback as I thought, I’m not feeling the same high as when I won the first, or third of fourth one.
‘That’s not a good sign. I thought, what will actually make me happy and give me a purpose in life?
‘I thought, I know what I need to do, I need to open up a food bank, for people who can’t get the basics in life, a bit of food!
‘That’s probably the next thing I want to do because I worked with one in Walthamstow.
‘I was helping there on Christmas Day, it goes all year round it’s great what they do, but I was there on Christmas Day and I just looked at the people there and what they do, the people who come there and I just felt good being there, I felt good being around those people. The whole thing about it felt right, to be part of it.
‘It takes people giving their time for free, with no reward, other than them just wanting to give something back.
‘For me now I need challenges like that and things that make you feel good about yourself.’
It’s a very generous idea but, quite frankly, I’m not sure Ronnie has any understanding of the size and complexity of such a project, nor of the level of commitment this would require…
That said, I’m sure he’s genuine in what he says. I have been with him at events, and at exhibitions, and on numerous occasions I have witnessed him spontaneously trying to help homeless persons he had just spotted in the street, usually by going to the closest shop to buy and bring them some warm food or drink and taking time to have a chat with them. And that even happened right after matches he had lost.
Perry won a ranking title on British soil for the first time when he beat Judd Trump in the final in Newport last season, and he’ll be up against King in round one in Llandudno. World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan will meet Oliver Lines, while three-time Crucible king Mark Williams will face Michael White in an all-Welsh clash.
Originally intended as a monthly record of results and reports from tournaments, over time the magazine became a much more significant influence across the sport.
O’Sullivan made yet more snooker history with his seventh world title in May (Picture: Getty Images)
The innovative tournament sees the world’s top four men each paired with one of the top four women in a team format. Televised live by ITV, the invitation event runs over the weekend of Saturday September 24 and Sunday September 25 at the Marshall Arena at MK Stadium in Milton Keynes.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 