Ronnie O'Sullivan on prison time, playing until 60 and why he is like Tiger Woods
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ByEurosport
Updated 19/07/2020 at 08:57 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan has explained why playing in the Championship League was like doing a night in a jail cell ahead of his latest world title bid.
Ronnie O'Sullivan and Tiger Woods
Image credit: Eurosport
The five-times world champion prompted controversy when he slammed conditions at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes last month because he had to self-isolate surviving on cornflakes in a hotel room after undergoing a Covid-19 swab test before playing in the event.
"Got to be off me head coming here, haven't I? I've been sat in my room for 24 hours," said O'Sullivan. "I done 16 hours in a cell once, and it was better cause I got to choose my own food."
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O'Sullivan has expanded on those comments by revealing he was once picked up by the police at the age of 17 – at the time he became the youngest winner of snooker's UK Championship in 1993 – in what turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.
"I was 17 and they thought I’d abducted somebody," O'Sullivan was quoted as saying in a promotional interview for a betting company. "There were 30 police vans surrounding me and they locked off the whole of Chigwell. It was like a scene off the FBI show on Sky.
"They stuck me in the back of a van and I was sitting there thinking, 'What does abduction mean?'. I’d just come back from three days at Champneys Spa and I was going to watch a boxing match in Brentwood.
"They put me in a white suit, took my car away for forensics and kept me in a cell. They did a proper job. And then they let me out 24 hours later saying it was mistaken identity. I was like, 'OK, fair call, nice one, try not to make that mistake again'."
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The 17-year-old O'Sullivan once played Fred Davis when the eight-times world champion was still playing professionally aged 79, completing a 5-1 win in qualifying for the Grand Prix in 1993 – and has claimed he is good enough to be competitive in the sport until he is 60.
"With my game, I could probably play until I was 55, comfortably, and maybe even 60," said the 44-year-old O'Sullivan. "I look around at the competition, I see what is coming through and there is not really a lot about. I hardly practise and I’m still getting to finals and winning tournaments and I am a grandad.
"I still enjoy the battle. I call it the mustard and I enjoy smothering myself in the mustard, because whatever I do after snooker, it’s not going to be mustard."
O'Sullivan believes snooker won't be the same without him despite conceding that no man is bigger than any sport, but feels he will be celebrated in the same way 15-times Major winner Tiger Woods is viewed in golf.
"I’m not saying snooker wouldn’t survive and no one is bigger than any sport," he said. "But I feel like I have been the forerunner for snooker in many ways and brought a lot of excitement and a lot of different fans to the sport. I am sure that is down to the energy that I play with.
"When you put the golf on, there is a different feeling when Tiger Woods is playing in an event. I’m not saying I am the Tiger of snooker, but it’s always better to have Tiger wearing his red shirt on a Sunday."
O'Sullivan has not won a ranking event in the UK since the Tour Championship in March 2019, but has plans for the £500,000 first prize if he manages to win his first world title in Sheffield since 2013 when the delayed tournament is completed on 16 August.
He plans to buy another form of accommodation to replace the luxury canal long boat he recently sold after failing to spend a night on it.
"I’m looking at getting a campervan," said O'Sullivan. "Me and my mate are thinking of getting one and then going around Europe doing obscure running races.
"My girlfriend has said that if it’s just like the boat and doesn’t get used, then she won’t be too happy. But she knows I’m serious about my running. If I can manage my schedule enough and make use of it, then that would be something I’d like to do."
Watch LIVE coverage of the 2020 World Championship and World Championship qualifiers live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player
World Championship first round draw
- Judd Trump Eng (1) v Qualifier
- Yan Bingtao Chn (16) v Qualifier
- Stephen Maguire Sco (9) v Qualifier
- Kyren Wilson Eng (8) v Qualifier
- John Higgins Sco (5) v Qualifier
- David Gilbert Eng (12) v Qualifier
- Jack Lisowski Eng (13) v Qualifier
- Mark Allen NI (4) v Qualifier
- ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
- Mark Williams Wal (3) v Qualifier
- Stuart Bingham Eng (14) v Qualifier
- Ding Junhui Chn (11) v Qualifier
- Ronnie O’Sullivan Eng (6) v Qualifier
- Mark Selby Eng (7) v Qualifier
- Shaun Murphy Eng (10) v Qualifier
- Barry Hawkins Eng (15) v Qualifier
- Neil Robertson Aus (2) v Qualifier
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