I never thought I’d live to 47… I’m just happy to be clean, sober and mentally sound, Ronnie O’Sullivan tells SunSport
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN said he feels blessed that he avoided taking the wrong path in life after sobering up and battling his inner demons.
The Rocket, 47, was in reflective mood when he sat down with SunSport last week ahead of the World Snooker Championship, which starts on Saturday.
Tears flowed at the Crucible last year when he finally equalled Stephen Hendry’s mark of seven titles and celebrated the triumph with his dad and two of his kids.
As he targets an unprecedented eighth crown in Sheffield, O’Sullivan says his biggest achievement in life actually comes off the table.
The fact he remains at the top of his game, having overcome issues with drink and drugs that blighted nine years of his career.
O‘Sullivan said: “If you’d asked me in 1998 or 1999 where I’d be in 24, 25 years, I’d never have said, ‘Winning the World Championship, feeling good, come through whatever you’ve come through’.
“You know, seeing my kids are doing great and they’re growing into little adults.
“If you’d asked me, I’d have said, ‘Nah. There’s no way’.
“A lot of the emotion was reflecting back on, ‘OK, I’ve made it’. And I don’t mean winning a tournament.
“I mean I’ve made it to 47, not f***ing in some nuthouse or a f***ing drug-den looking for my next fix.”
The seven-time UK champion is in a good place these days and juggles his cue action with expert punditry on a Eurosport microphone at the major events.
And he was looking fit, trim and content in our chat at his snooker practice HQ — a million miles away from his darkest days.
The world No 1 said: “I’ve a tremendous respect for addiction and people losing their way and getting caught up.
“Not because they’re losers, it’s because they have an addictive personality. There are a lot of great musicians, great sportspeople, a lot of fantastic people who have succumbed to it.
“Sometimes just because they’re trying to manage their life. Or the stresses that come with it.
“Some people go to gambling. Some people to drinking. Some people to food.
“Addition is a powerful thing. I’m an addict. I know that.
“I don’t have my issues with it any more. I channel it into running or the gym.
“So when a lot of people go, ‘Why is he in the gym?’. Mate, that gym could have been a crack house. I just choose to go to the gym.
“I choose to run in the forest. I choose to do everything that keeps me away from pubs, drinking, partying.
“My mate once said, ‘If you stay outside a barbers’ long enough, you’ll end up getting a haircut’.
“I have this addictive nature. It has been good for me in my snooker.
“It has been a massive force and drive but it needs to be managed.
“I need to be near gyms, running clubs, running people — and when I say being here now, that for me is winning.
“If you don’t have a good family behind you, it’s easy to go off the rails.
“Anything for me now, I just see it is a bonus. As long as I’m clean and sober.
“As long as I’m in a good place mentally. My well-being is good. That’s rule No 1.
“Rule No2 is to remember rule No 1. And there is no rule three.”
This was O’Sullivan’s first interview since the explosive comments he made in these pages last month when he slammed the way snooker is being run, criticised the size of player prize-money and questioned the IQ of the bosses.
World Snooker Tour CEO Steve Dawson hit back and branded O’Sullivan’s ‘state of snooker’ comments as misguided, damaging and disrespectful.
O’Sullivan said he has spoken with Dawson and it appears the pair will agree to disagree after a truce was reached.
However, the sport’s biggest name is still not planning to attend any players’ meetings.
He added: “I told him what I think needs to happen.
“I genuinely don’t think they see it that way. That’s fine. They have to keep going. I wish them all the best.”
Watch live coverage of the World Championship on Eurosport and discovery+, featuring pundits Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White and Alan McManus.