A nightmare indeed: Ronnie O’Sullivan officially” made a ridiculous foul play” that got fans thinking and wondering” after his speech” despite it might be…
Legendary snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan is toying with the notion of making a dramatic transition from the baize to Chinese 8-ball, a new cue sport. Now 48 years old, the Rocket is considering a significant change in direction again after setting a new record with his seventh Masters victory. O’Sullivan has once again alluded to a potential career turnabout as he is defending his Shanghai Masters title in China, where he has won the tournament four times in a row.
In an interview with Shanghai’s Let’s Meet, a local media site, O’Sullivan shared his opinions on switching. He disclosed: “I’m interested in cue sports in general, therefore I’m currently researching the popularity of Chinese 8-Ball in China. It’s enormous and tremendous.”
The snooker phenomenon had previously mentioned this subject in November at the UK Championship, when he acknowledged that he might have already entered the pool scene if it weren’t for his sponsors’ requests.
“I’m trying to see if there’s an appetite for me to go over and play pool at some point,” he admitted. “I don’t want to be playing snooker against the younger men just for the sake of playing; I can’t keep getting up for it, match in, match out. “I want to continue playing for the upcoming ten to fifteen years, making a living and enjoying myself.
“China’s a place I like to go, obviously it’s a very popular sport out there. But I’ll just have to see what my sponsors are like because at the moment they’re sponsoring me as a snooker player, but I’m trying to see if they’ll sponsor me as a pool player. To me it’s about keeping my sponsors happy, it doesn’t matter if I play pool snooker, billiards, whatever. I just want to have a nice life.
They pay my bills, pay my salary, so obviously I’ve got to keep them sweet and if they want me to keep playing snooker then I’ll have to keep playing. “If they’re cool with me to play pool I’ll definitely entertain that. I’d have to get used to the game, but it wouldn’t take me long.”
O’Sullivan wouldn’t be the first player to make the jump with fellow Brit Mark Williams playing in the Joy Cup World Heyball Masters Grand Finals this year.
The top purse £557,900 in that tournament exceeds the £500,000 winners’ prize up for grabs at the snooker World Championship at the Crucible.
