The one Ronnie:controversial but compelling
In the wake of yet more Ronnie O’Sullivan quotes damning the sport that has made him, formerMasters champion Mark Allen last month summed up many snooker fans’ thoughts: ‘‘Sometimes you’d rather say, ‘Just keep quiet please, for aminute. Just let snooker do the talking.’ But that’s just part of the Ronnie O’Sullivan show.’’
For all that snooker has made O’Sullivan the person he is, Ronnie – a man in that rare category of public figures who have attained such status that they are known solely by their first name – has made snooker what it is today.
From his frequent (some might argue, tiresome) criticisms of the sport, to the two controversial hand gestures he was accused of making mid-match at this world championship, to whipping out a cigarette lighter and burning his cue tip during the final at the Crucible, O’Sullivan is unmissable. It is no disrespect to those who attempted, and failed, to beat him over the past fortnight to describe him as snooker’s sole box-office attraction.
That yesterday’s 18-13 victory over Judd Trump ranks him alongside Stephen Hendry as the only men to win seven world titles shows his almost unmatched ability, but with O’Sullivan it is more than just numbers.
‘‘After watching Alex Higgins, I thought no onewould excite me playing the game like he does, and then we got Ronnie,’’ said John Virgo, aman who haswatched more snooker than most over almost 50 years in the game.
‘‘A lot of people can say snooker is a bit boring, but if there’s amore talented sportsman in the world at this present time than Ronnie O’Sullivan, I’d like to know who they are because he is a genius and we’re lucky to have him.’’
The truth, acknowledged by many but blindly denied by some die-hards, is that snooker is at a crossroads, battling to maintain its relevance in the 21st century and forever destined to be compared to a heyday of the Eighties when close to 20 million people would stay up late at night to watch the climax to aWorld Championship final.
Leading players have
advocated altering the format of competitions, changing the strict dress code and moving the sport’s showpiece event away from the Crucible, all in a perpetual bid to make it more attractive to a younger audience.
The reality is that all manner of tweaks will have zero impact without the brilliance of the players. In that regard, O’Sullivan is incomparable.
No other person carries their sport like he does snooker, triumphing yesterday despite not managing to hit top gear at any point during the tournament.
For some, that abundant skill might be overshadowed by his questionable, sometimes obnoxious, behaviour away from the table. A fair few people, including some of his rivals, do not much like O’Sullivan the person. Outspoken and prone to shooting from the hip without thinking, he recently said he ‘‘would not let’’ any son of his play snooker, because of its lack of earning power and stardust: ‘‘Maybe 20 to 25 years ago it was a sexy sport, but it has kind of fallen behind other sports.’’
They were not words you would expect from aman held up as an ambassador for the sport, but such is the way with O’Sullivan, who refuses to kowtow to the tiresome mediatrained platitudes of so many sportspeople; someone who has a strong personality and is unafraid to express his opinions, even if they might prove unpopular.
When accused of making a second lewd gesture of the tournament in the opening session of the final, he raged at the referee: ‘‘Tell me what you saw? You saw nothing, don’t start – go and look at the camera.’’
The lack of video evidence means we will likely never know what the referee saw, or believes he saw, but it would be overegging things even to describe it as a storm in a teacup.
Recall footballer Paolo Di Canio shoving a referee to the ground, cricketer Mike Gatting furiouslywagging his finger in the umpire’s face or tennis player Alexander Zverev destroying his racket by repeatedly walloping the umpire’s chair. In the long history of ignominious offences against sports officials, O’Sullivan’s does not even warrant mention.
No sportsperson’s brilliance gives them free rein to behave how they like, but anyone truly offended by O’Sullivan’s actions or words needs to have a rethink.
The fact is that when O’Sullivan speaks, you want to listen, and when O’Sullivan plays, you want to watch. Snooker would be a far worse place without him.
Ben Bloom is a snooker writer for The Telegraph Group.