Ronnie O’Sullivan on Crucible World Championship ‘circus’ and mental torment of success

Few athletes make winning seem so easy and yet have such a difficult relationship with success.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has elevated the sport of snooker to unprecedented levels of beauty for the past 25 years, winning everything his heart desires.

But when the seven-time world champion talks about how the top league ‘circus’ forces him to explore the dark crevices of his mind, you wonder if it’s all worth it.

Glory, but at what cost? It’s a dilemma that many elite athletes have faced at some point, even in the most illustrious careers where admiration flows freely.

Snooker can be a lonely sport. The long hours studying the four walls of hotel rooms between games and the longer minutes sitting in the corner of the auditorium playing that missed pot in your head as your opponent ruthlessly cleans up.

The mental strain can weigh heavily on anyone, especially in the hot spotlight of the big tournaments. An awful lot of time is spent alone with your thoughts.

O’Sullivan, 46, who equaled Stephen Hendry’s record of seven World Cup crowns in the Crucible earlier this year, is certainly no stranger to mental demons.

When the Rocket’s genius reaches its full power, he’s unplayable, but his journey has also probed the depths of depression, alcohol and drug abuse.

It’s all explored in a new two-part Eurosport show called Seventh heavenwhich premieres this Saturday.

Nothing is off limits as O’Sullivan traces his snooker career from the early days to his 18-13 win over Judd Trump in this year’s Crucible final.

“If you’re going to win the World Championships, or win a tournament of that stature, whether it’s golf, tennis, darts or whatever, you’re going to run into some dark spots,” O’Sullivan said. Sports post.

“Even when I was in my prime in 2012 and 2013, there were places where you think, ‘[exhales] that was tough, it was very, very hard not to sabotage and just stop.”

“When I say quit, I mean give in mentally. In those dark places, you have to push yourself outside the comfort zone.

“When I won the World Championship in 2013, I woke up the next morning and thought, ‘That was pretty easy, I can do that again’.

“But when I won it in 2020, seven years later, I felt empty for days afterwards and the same thing happened when I won the tournament this year.

‘As you get older, you recover much less from those kinds of experiences and situations.

“I’m less willing to go into the dark places now because I’m more interested in living a healthier, happier life.

‘I look at the bigger picture, having a family and friends, the other work I do is much more important than the game of snooker. So it’s a trade-off, picking and choosing my fights.

‘I have a green zone and a red zone. I’m willing to be in the green zone 80 percent of the time for the rest of my playing days and only step into the red zone once in a while if the prize gets me excited.”

Never does that red burn so brightly as during those spring fortnights in Sheffield. Getting all the way to the Crucible requires not only consistent skill, but also tunnel vision.

“Even when I won it in 2001, 2004, 2008, it was always the red zone,” says O’Sullivan.

“So that’s why I’m holding my hands up to everyone who wins in Sheffield, anyone who wins a Major in tennis or golf, or the World Championships in darts.

‘Those events turn it into a circus. You have all the excitement of the hustle and bustle, Sheffield becomes a village, there is the press and the media.

“It’s not that I feel it because I’m number 1 or the favourite, you feel it because you’re in this high-intensity environment and you can’t get rid of it.

“The red zone is always the Worlds and sometimes the Masters and the UK Championships – they are the biggest events to play in and the circus comes together with those tournaments.”

Now that O’Sullivan has matched Hendry’s record of seven Crucible titles, you’d think he’d do anything he could to win number 8. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

“It would never have bothered me if I hadn’t really gotten to number 5,” he admits. “When I was four I was quite happy, six was a milestone because I matched Steve Davis.

“But I’ve never been bothered by the records. I never thought that at the end of my career I would be defined by what I won.

“I thought the legacy I left behind was to be the most exciting snooker player to watch with Alex Higgins and Jimmy White… and win a few tournaments.

“I managed to do both, which not many people can do.

“You’re either a Stephen Hendry or a Steve Davis, because you’re a winning machine, but you’ve never played the entertaining kind of game.

“Either you’re a Higgins or a white guy who played the entertaining game, but you had to sacrifice so much to win.

“I would have been more than happy with what was written on my tombstone, but since I’ve matched Stephen Hendry’s record, I can’t ask for more than that.”

Despite the prospect of even more challenging moments, O’Sullivan has shaken himself up for another season on the track.

Over the weekend, he won the Hong Kong Masters – and £100,000 – beating local favorite Marco Fu in front of 9,000 spectators, the biggest live snooker crowd ever.

Years of experience have taught O’Sullivan to balance the rigors of the sport with the bigger picture of life – and he believes someone is watching over him.

“I’ve always believed in the snooker gods,” he says.

‘I’m not a religious person, I’m not a spiritual person – other than taking care of myself and my well-being – but I do believe in the snooker gods.

“I truly believe that whatever I do, they are always me.

“They don’t always give me the answers, but they always get something on my lap, or they introduce me to someone who will do something good for me.

‘It is then up to me whether I make the most of that opportunity, that relationship, that coach, mind coach, whatever it may be.

“I’ve yet to do the work, but I do believe I’m being looked after in that regard and that seeps into every area of ​​my life, whether that’s finding the running community, starting cooking, finding new hobbies that help me be better suited to perform under pressure and help me enjoy my career more.’

And even if O’Sullivan doesn’t give the impression that he’s interested in winning a record-breaking eighth world title, a few words have probably been whispered to the snooker gods.

Seventh Heaven premieres Saturday at 8pm on discovery+ and Eurosport 1. The Northern Ireland Open will be live from October 16th and exclusively on Eurosport, discovery+ and Quest. CLICK HERE for all discovery+ snooker coverage.