P*SSED OFF
Drunk fan gets Ronnie reaching for a mask
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN says he may need a disguise to avoid more ugly incidents around the Crucible.
The Rocket cruised into the second round of the Betfred World Championship with a 10-4 victory against debutant Mark Joyce.
But defending and six-time world champion O’sullivan was left shocked after being harassed by a drunken fan at an outdoor cafe between sessions.
The instantly recognisable world No.2 has decided, despite the fracas, to stay in Sheffield rather than go home to Essex for three days.
But O’sullivan is desperate to avoid risks as he would lose the chance of equalling Stephen Hendry’s record seven world titles and a £500,000 payday if he contracted Covid.
He said: “I may have to stay indoors more, stay away. And I might have to get a disguise, a different face mask. I have to get some privacy.
“I don’t want to go home as I like Sheffield and I like being round the Crucible and I like going to the little cafe bars round here.
“Last year with no crowd for most of the event it was great as you could do that with no problems.
“But this year, why not a disguise? If you want to go to bars, you have no choice but to sit outside.
“I want to relax outside with a coffee and to hang round the tournament and venue.”
Of the incident itself,
O’sullivan said: “I was harassed like you wouldn’t believe, this p*ssed-up geezer was a nightmare… boozed up, an absolute lunatic.
“What can you do? If I didn’t have to be clean for this tournament it wouldn’t matter so much.
“I was like ‘Please, I have to get through this tournament Covid-free, I beg you.’ The guy at the restaurant got him away with two staff.”
O’sullivan also said he had “made it through day one of Big Brother” after his easy first-round win.
The winner of more ranking titles and majors than anyone in history has always struggled with the intensity and demands of the 17day Crucible marathon despite his six successes.
He added: “It is so draining. I was sitting in my hotel room and I thought, ‘I feel like I have been through 17 days already.’
“All I had was, ‘Day 64 in the Big Brother house’ in my head.
“This was day one, I have 16 days to go. I won’t be able to sustain this!”
Before Celebrity Big Brother ended in 2018, the producers made huge offers to O’sullivan to be involved in the show.
He said: “I didn’t have the bottle to do it but I watched a lot of Big Brother down the years. I probably never missed an episode.”