The Pocket Rocket
Ronnie just keeps on giving doesn't he. Not only is he the best at what he does, he brings a little bit of swagger and fun to snooker too and wherever Ronnie is controversy isn't too far away. Take these two videos below from his world snooker Championship final against Judd Trump.
Ronnie The Showman
If you want to know why the fans all love Ronnie O'Sullivan, just take a look at this compilation of shots from over the years, he pulls things off that many would never even think of, never mind try to execute. He has always been the ultimate entertainer.
Across the spectrum of sports, there are players or characters who will always be associated with that particular sport in the way that vacuums are called hoovers or searching something on line is referred to as "Googling" it. Tiger Woods and golf, Lewis Hamilton and Formula 1, Messi and soccer, Federer and tennis. You get the idea. Ronnie is certainly that guy for me when it comes to snooker - sure there were many greats before him like Hurricane Higgins, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and others, but for me none of them epitomise the sport more than Ronnie does. When I think of snooker, the first thing that pops into my head is Ronnie taking on a cheeky shot.
He is and always has been an explosive character, and possesses snooker skills that other players can only dream of. In my opinion, were it not for his various mental battles, Ronnie would hold every record in the game. In a way though, it all adds up to make Ronnie who he is and without his baggage and journey, he may never have made it this far and I bet if you asked him, he wouldn't change anything.
I think lately though Ronnie has matured and he can see that he will only be at the top for a certain amount of time and there are records there to be broken, he now joins Hendry as with a joint seven world championship titles, but who would bet against him topping that next year with another win to go to eight. He is already top of the pile for most ranking event wins with 39 titles, three more than Hendry who plied his trade on the green felt between 1987 and 2005. Steve Davis does have one record, where O'Sullivan is pipped into second and that is overall snooker competitions (ranking and non-ranking) where Davis clocked up 81 vs Ronnie's current haul of 73. Again I would not bet a red cent against him taking that spot eventually too.
Maturity
I think Ronnie is in a good place at the moment and you can see in the way that he plays and carries himself, that he knows that he only has so long left at the top and now is the time to make hay, while he still possesses the hunger and ability needed to excel at the highest level.
There have been plenty of times in his career when he was simply going through the motions and was suffering with his mental health and the last place that he wanted to be in his heart of hearts was in the middle of a room with thousands staring at him and millions more watching remotely. So is it any surprise that he had some surprise exits and unimpressive performances over the years.
When Ronnie is mentally strong there is nobody in the world that can hold a light to him, he transcends everyone else's abilities and just hits those shots that win you snooker matches.
He was certainly in the zone for his seventh world title win last week, just look at how he pushed the competition aside, beating all of his opponents by a minimum of five frames. Ronnie is just different gravy when he gets going.
R2 Mark Allen 4-13 Ronnie O’Sullivan
QF Stephen Maguire 5-13 Ronnie O'Sullivan
SF John Higgins 11-17 Ronnie O'Sullivan
Final Judd Trump 13-18 Ronnie O'Sullivan
I believe if he keeps his current temperament and maturity levels for the next four or five years, he can set a benchmark that may never be surpassed. He is most certainly good enough to do so, and for me he is the best person to ever play the sport of snooker.
Where did it all begin?
Let's take a little run down memory lane, shall we? Ronnie crashed onto the scene quite literally like a rocket at 17 years of age. He wasn't new to the sport at 17 though, more on that to follow - many an elder statesman he embarrassed around a snooker table in his youth.
This swashbuckling youngster exploded into the world of snooker winning 74 of his 76 matches in 1993, including a record 38 successive wins, yes that's right 38 wins without a loss. He must have felt unstoppable, a bit like Tiger woods im 1997 when he crashed onto the golf scene.
In doing so, he broke the record previously held by Scotsman Stephen Hendry. Unlike some players who shine for short little stintnof a few years, Ronnie has managed to shine like a diamond for over twenty years and he is arguably shining as much as ever right now in the twilight of his career. Although to look at him, he still looks like a young man, so he may well still have plenty left in the tank. He most certainly looks after himself and still jogs a few times a week, which is good for the body and good for the mind too.
Ronnie first got into snooker, when most young lads were playing with Game-boys or playing football with their friends on a green. He was seven when he started making a habit of beating players twice, three times, four times and five times his age.
He was not only competing with men, but beating the best men at his snooker hall when he was knee high to a grasshopper at the tender age of eight!
He built upon this and against all the odds won his first tournament at the age of nine.
I mention century breaks in the following section, well Ronnie got his first century break aged just ten years of age, when he chalked up 117 during a single visit to the table.
Imagine playing snooker all your life and then getting beaten by a nine year old, man that must have been demoralising at the time, and evetually probably became their favorite story to tell and it might have gone something like this...
"I remember when I beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in a game of snooker"
"No way! What age was he then??"
"Shut up man, he may only have been nine, but the boy could play!"
"AHHHHH ha ha ha, you were beaten by a child, were you?"
"Not any old child! We're talking about the Ronnie O’Sullivan here!"
Accomplishments
Ronnie has potted a maximum break a whopping 15 times in official ranking competitions. To put that into context, there are plenty of players who have never managed a 147 in competition play, so to manage it 15 times says a lot about Ronnie.
He has now won 39 ranking competitions since adding his 7th world title to his trophy room on Sunday. He's also won 34 non-ranking competitions, but he doesn't really play in those anymore. Over his 27 year career he has managed to move the dial beyond 100 points in a frame an amazing more 1669 times. It's simply incredible what the Pocket Rocket has achieved.
One of my favourite breaks of his is shared below. This was the 147 he managed at the 1997 World snooker Championship first round, which was and is the fastest maximum in snooker history. Take a bow Ronnie. Oh and he pocketed £147,000 for his troubles, not a bad evenings work, eh!!?
https://www.scoopnest.com
https://www.weeklystandard.com
http://www.allsportspk.com/rapid-fact-sheet-snooker-mastro-ronnie-o-sullivan/
The YouTube videos shared are not owned by me and I am simply sharing the clips with the community here on Hive. If you want these removed, let me know in the comments and I will remove them
Thanks a million for reading as always.
Peace out
