TABLE DANCER
Ronnie gets Jordan treatment and supplies Hollywood ending
A YEAR in the life of Ronnie O’Sullivan got the fairy-tale ending – but it won’t be the last dance for the ‘Rocket’.
The 46-year-old is being hailed as the greatest snooker player in history after equalling Stephen Hendry’s record of seven world titles with an 18-13 win over Judd Trump at the BetfredWorld Championship.
World No.1 O’Sullivan, the oldest Crucible champion, is not done yet – suggesting Hendry may only get to share the record for a year, and that he could play into his 50s and go for 10.
But the fly-on-the-wall documentary film crew that has been following him around this season was able to capture classic moments in the iconic Sheffield arena.
Having spent years insisting records meant nothing to him, the images of an overwhelmed O’Sullivan sobbing in the arms of beaten opponent Trump and celebrating with his children told a different story.
And O’Sullivan was quick to see parallels with the film that documented basketball legend Michael Jordan’s final 1997-98 season with the Chicago Bulls that brought the NBA superstar a sixth title.
O’Sullivan said: “I loved that documentary The Last Dance about Jordan’s final season at the Bulls.
“And this is a bit of a dream ending to mine.The guys have been following me for six or seven months. You couldn’t have envisaged this – they have had a result.
“I loved Michael’s energy, professionalism and confidence. He knew how to get the best out of people.
“It’s harder in an individual sport. I said to [psychiatrist] Steve Peters I wished I was in a team sport. At least then you can take a week off or be rested for a bit.
“You can have that relationship with your manager where you can kind of pick and choose when to play. In an individual sport, you’re forced to play even if you feel you don’t want to.
“I’m good with pressure so having the crew around wasn’t an issue – it might have inspired me. And things just seem to work out, so I’m not surprised it ended like that. “And it wasn’t all Sheffield, hopefully a load of it gets in there. In Llandudno, they asked me what I normally do and I said, ‘I go out running in the morning and if it’s p***ing down with rain I’m still going out’. “They followed me in the car and got me running up the Orme – and it was p***ing down. “Whatever I have done, they have followed me. Everything has been as it is.”