RONNIE? NO, MY NAME’S JOHNNY
O’Sullivan may don a disguise to avoid any more ugly incidents with drunken fans in Sheffield
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN reckons he may need a disguise to avoid more ugly incidents in Sheffield.
The Rocket cruised into the second round of the Betfred World Championship over the weekend with a 10-4 victory against debutant Mark Joyce.
But defending champion O’Sullivan was left shocked after being harassed by a drunken fan at an outdoor café between sessions.
The instantly recognisable world No.2 has decided, despite the fracas, to stay in Sheffield, a city he loves, rather than head home to
Essex for three days. But O’Sullivan is desperate to avoid any risks as he would lose the chance of equalling Stephen Hendry’s record seven world titles and a massive £500,000 pay-day if he contracted Covid.
He said: “I may have to stay indoors more. 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. I like being around the Crucible and like going to the little café bars around 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 sit in bars, you have no choice but to sit outside. I want to relax outside with a coffee and I want to hang round the tournament and venue.”
Of the incident itself, O’Sullivan (above) said: “I was harassed like you wouldn’t believe. This p**sed-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. But 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.”
After his comfortable firstround win O’Sullivan likened it to making it through day one of Big Brother.
The winner of more ranking titles and majors than anyone in history has always struggled with the intensity and demands of the 17-day Crucible marathon despite his six triumphs.
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 don’t think I’ll be able to sustain it!” Before Celebrity Big Brother ended in 2018 they made huge offers to O’Sullivan on the show.
Plenty of other reality shows including I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, also tried to lure the Rocket.
He said: “I was approached to go on all those shows but 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.”
Former world champion Steve Davis finished eighth in I’m A Celebrity in 2013 and Jimmy White finished third in 2009.