Ronnie O’Sullivan revealed his drive for continued success in snooker comes from a desire to ‘ruin careers’ of his rivals.
The Rocket, 47, is the sport’s world number one as he further cements the lengthy resume he’s built in snooker ever since becoming a professional in 1992.
The seven-time World Snooker Championship victor is aiming for a record-extending eighth UK Championship title in Sunday’s (December 3) after besting Hossein Vafaei who admitted he “lost to my idol”. O’Sullivan will meet the winner of Judd Trump and Ding Junhei in the finale.
O’Sullivan holds the record for the most Triple Crown titles with 21 triumphs in the UK and World Championship, as well as the Masters. A victory on Sunday could be his first ranking title since 2022 and would spell his 40th overall. Known for being brutally honest, the 47-year-old admitted what his drive in the sport is 30 years on.
“The thing for me is stopping other people winning the big tournaments,” he said. “If I can stop Selby winning a few and Judd winning a few or Ding and Robertson. If I can ruin their careers a bit, that would be great.
Despite his reputation as one of the greatest players of all-time, he modestly defined his success by saying: “I’ve done all right. I’ve got a good CV. Sometimes that’s a nice motivation to play. I’m just hanging around now so other people don’t have as good a career as maybe they could have.”
O’Sullivan’s stunning revelations continued as he claimed: “I’m just here to spoil the party and ruin their CV. I don’t care about winning, I want to make them look back and think ‘I could have had four or five more if it weren’t for him!”
Despite his nonchalance around winning, O’Sullivan can add to his seemingly endless snooker honours thanks to his victory over world No.18 Vafaei who paid tribute to the Englishman. “There was only one man who could stop me and it’s Ronnie O’Sullivan,” he said after his loss.
“I think everyone can see that I’m coming.”
