BBC award? I’m not bothered if I never win it

Ronnie O’sullivan has dismissed his chances of following Steve Davis as the second snooker player to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year and says he does not care whether he ever wins the award.

After equalling Stephen Hendry on a record seven world titles, O’sullivan was installed as the early favourite for the prize despite only being nominated once before and never making the top three.

Davis won the award in 1988 at the height of snooker’s boom, while Alex Higgins and Hendry were runners-up in 1982 and 1990. No snooker players have since made the top three but, with peak viewing figures of almost five million for O’sullivan’s victory against Judd Trump, this year’s World Championship final commanded considerable national attention.

“I won’t ever get that one,” said O’sullivan, 46, of Spoty. “It’s not one I want to win. I’m not bothered about awards, trophies or accolades. I just want to enjoy my life, be happy and have some peace.”

O’sullivan’s profile will be further raised in the coming months when an all-access fly-on-the-wall documentary is produced about his season.

O’sullivan again paid tribute to his psychiatrist Steve Peters, saying that if he had not met him in 2011 he “would probably be in some hot country like Portugal living in a nice beach house”.

Instead, O’sullivan thinks he could keep going for another decade. “I could probably play to my mid-fifties if I wanted to,” he said. “I don’t consider myself the greatest ever at all. I don’t want to be considered the greatest. I want to be known as someone who loves snooker and loves playing.”