Ronnie O'Sullivan facts for kids
_2015-02-06_07.jpg)
At the 2015 German Masters
|
|
| Born | 5 December 1975 Wordsley, West Midlands, England |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  England |
| Professional | 1992–present |
| Highest ranking | 1 (May 2002 – May 2003, May 2004 – May 2006, May 2008 – May 2010, March – August 2019, April 2022 – May 2024) |
| Current ranking | 2 (as of 8 May 2018) |
| Tournament wins | |
| Ranking | 41 |
| Minor-ranking | 3 |
| World Champion |
|
Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player. Many people think he is one of the best snooker players ever. He has won the World Snooker Championship seven times. This is a record he shares with Stephen Hendry.
Ronnie has also won a record eight Masters titles. He has won a record eight UK Championship titles too. This gives him a total of 23 Triple Crown titles, which is the most by any player. He holds the record for the most ranking titles, with 41 wins. He has also been ranked as the world's number one player many times.
Ronnie started playing snooker when he was very young. He won amateur titles like the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship. He became a professional player in 1992 when he was 16. He won his first big tournament, the 1993 UK Championship, when he was almost 18. He is still the youngest player to win a ranking title.
He is also the youngest player to win the Masters. He won his first Masters title in 1995. Now, he is also known for playing well for a long time. He is the oldest winner of all three Triple Crown events. He won his seventh world title in 2022. He won his eighth UK Championship title in 2023. And he won his eighth Masters title in 2024. As of 2025, he has played in the final stages of the World Snooker Championship a record 33 times at the Crucible.
Ronnie made his first competitive century break when he was 10. He made his first competitive maximum break when he was 15. He was the first player to make 1,000 century breaks in professional games. He reached this amazing goal in 2019. Now, he has made over 1,200 centuries. He has also made the most official maximum breaks, with 15. He holds a Guinness World Record for the fastest maximum break. He made it in 5 minutes and 8 seconds at the 1997 World Championship.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is known as one of the "Class of '92". This group includes players who became professional in the 1992–93 season. The other two players are Mark Williams and John Higgins. Ronnie is also in the World Snooker Tour Hall of Fame. He was given an OBE award in 2016 for his services to snooker.
Contents
Ronnie's Snooker Journey
_2012-02-05_65.jpg)
Ronnie started playing snooker at age 7. He quickly became a very good amateur player. He won his first club tournament when he was 9. He made his first century break at age 10. He won the British Under-16 Championship at age 13. In 1991, he made his first maximum break in a tournament. He was the youngest player to do so at the time. In the same year, he won the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship and Junior Pot Black.
Becoming a Professional Player
Ronnie became a professional player in 1992 when he was 16. He won 74 of his first 76 matches. This included a record of 38 wins in a row. He played in the 1993 World Championship for the first time. He lost to Alan McManus in his first match at the Crucible. Later that year, he won his first ranking title. He beat Stephen Hendry 10–6 in the final of the 1993 UK Championship. He was just under 18 years old, making him the youngest player to win a ranking event. He still holds this record. The next season, he won the 1995 Masters. He was the youngest Masters champion ever.
Big Wins and Challenges
Between 1996 and 1999, Ronnie reached the World Championship semi-finals three times. At the 1997 World Championship, he made his first maximum break as a professional. It took him only 5 minutes and 8 seconds. This is still the fastest maximum break in snooker history. It is even in the Guinness World Records. He won his second UK title later that year at the 1997 UK Championship.
He reached his first World final in 2001. He beat John Higgins 18–14 to win his first World title. This helped him become the world number two player. He won his third UK Championship later that year. This made him the world number one for the first time in the 2002–03 season. With Ray Reardon as his coach, he won his second World title in 2004. He beat Graeme Dott 18–8 in the final. After this, he was the number one player for the next two seasons. He won his second Masters title in 2005, ten years after his first.
In 2007, Ronnie won his third Masters title. He also won his fourth UK Championship. This was his first ranking title in almost three years. He won his third World title in 2008. He beat Ali Carter 18–8 in the final. After this, he was the world number one for the next two seasons. He won his fourth Masters title in 2009.
After a couple of difficult seasons, he started working with sports psychologist Steve Peters in 2011. Ronnie then won his fourth World title in 2012. He beat Ali Carter 18–11 in the final. He thanked Steve Peters for his help. The next season, he took a break from playing. Even though he had only played one match all season, he returned for the 2013 World Championship. He successfully defended his title, beating Barry Hawkins 18–12 in the final.
In his 2014 Masters quarter-final, he set a new record. He scored 556 points without his opponent scoring any. He then beat Mark Selby 10–4 in the final to win his fifth Masters title. At the 2014 World Championship, he reached his third World final in a row. He played Mark Selby again. Ronnie was leading 10–5, but he lost 18–14. This was his first loss in a World final. Later in 2014, he won his fifth UK Championship. He beat Judd Trump 10–9 in the final.
Ronnie won two Masters tournaments in a row in 2016 and 2017. This gave him a record seven Masters titles. He also won two UK Championships in a row in 2017 and 2018. This gave him a record seven UK titles. He now had 19 Triple Crown titles, more than Stephen Hendry's 18. In the 2017–18 season, he won five ranking events. He beat Neil Robertson 10–4 in the final of the 2019 Players Championship. In that match, he made his 1,000th century break. He was the first player to reach this milestone. He won his 36th ranking title at the 2019 Tour Championship. This equaled Hendry's record. He also became world number one again for the first time since 2010.
At the 2020 World Championship, Ronnie was losing 14–16 to Mark Selby in the semi-final. But he came back to win 17–16. He then beat Kyren Wilson 18–8 in the final to win his sixth world title. This tournament was his 28th time playing at the Crucible in a row. This broke Stephen Hendry's record. He reached his 58th ranking final at the 2021 Tour Championship. This broke Hendry's record of 57 ranking final appearances. He lost 10–4 to Neil Robertson. During that tournament, he made his 1,100th century break. He won his 38th ranking title at the 2021 World Grand Prix.
Ronnie beat Judd Trump 18–13 in the 2022 World Championship final. This was his seventh world title. He equaled Stephen Hendry for the most world titles in the modern era. He also became the oldest World Champion in snooker history. He was 46 years old. He also broke Hendry's record for Crucible wins, with 74 wins.
Ronnie beat Marco Fu 6–4 to win the 2022 Hong Kong Masters. The final had about 9,000 fans, the biggest crowd ever for a snooker match. At the 2023 World Snooker Championship, Ronnie played at the Crucible for a record 31st time. This broke Steve Davis's record of 30. He made his 200th century break at the Crucible. He also made his 1,200th century in professional games during his match against Hossein Vafaei. He reached the quarter-finals, becoming the first player to play 100 matches at the Crucible. He lost 10–13 to Luca Brecel.
At the 2023 Shanghai Masters, Ronnie beat Luca Brecel 11–9 in the final. This was his fourth win in a row and fifth overall at the Shanghai Masters. He extended his winning streak at the tournament to 18 matches. He won a record eighth title at both the 2023 UK Championship and the 2024 Masters. He beat Ding Junhui and Ali Carter 10–7 in the finals. This increased his record for ranking titles to 40 and Triple Crown titles to 23. He became the oldest winner of all three Triple Crown events. He also became the youngest and oldest winner of both the UK Championship and the Masters. He won his 41st ranking title at the 2024 World Grand Prix. He beat Judd Trump 10–7 in the final. He then won the 2024 World Masters of Snooker, the first professional snooker tournament in Saudi Arabia. He beat Luca Brecel 5–2 in the final.
Ronnie has also won many other titles. These include three World Grand Prix titles, two Players Championship titles, four Welsh Open titles, two Scottish Open titles, two German Masters titles, four Irish Masters titles, two China Open titles, two Champions Cup titles, ten Premier League titles, four Champion of Champions titles, three Scottish Masters titles, and five Shanghai Masters titles.
Playing Style
Ronnie is known for playing snooker very fast and attacking. He got the nickname "The Rocket" because he won a match in a record 43 minutes. He is very good at making high breaks and is also a smart tactical player. He doesn't like long, slow games.
Ronnie can play well with both his right and left hands. He is right-handed, but he can play with his left hand when he needs to. This means he can make shots that other players might need special tools for. When he first showed this skill in the 1996 World Championship, his opponent, Alain Robidoux, thought it was disrespectful.
Status in Snooker
Many snooker players think Ronnie O'Sullivan is the greatest player ever. Some even call him a "genius." After losing to Ronnie in 2008, Stephen Hendry said Ronnie was "the best player in the world by a country mile." In 2024, Hendry agreed that Ronnie is definitely the greatest snooker player of all time. He also called him an "artist." However, Ronnie himself often says that Stephen Hendry is the greatest because he dominated snooker for so long.
Ronnie is one of the most popular players in snooker. He is known for being a "showman." People say he has helped make snooker more popular with the public. He is often compared to Alex Higgins and Jimmy White because of his natural talent and how much people like him. In December 2020, Ronnie was nominated for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year Award. He was the first snooker player to be nominated since Stephen Hendry in 1990. He was nominated again in December 2022.
Other famous athletes have also praised Ronnie. Tennis player Novak Djokovic said, "I watch snooker because of Ronnie O'Sullivan."
Other Activities
Broadcasting
Eurosport made a deal with Ronnie in March 2014. He became their worldwide ambassador for snooker. The goal was to make snooker more popular around the world. As part of this, Ronnie created a special snooker show called The Ronnie O'Sullivan Show. It included his thoughts on the game, interviews with other players, and tips for playing. He also wrote for Yahoo! websites during the 2014 World Championship. He often appears as a commentator on Eurosport's snooker coverage with Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.
In 2015 and 2016, Ronnie helped host a radio show called Midweek Matchzone. In 2017, he was in a TV show called Ronnie O'Sullivan's American Hustle. In the show, he traveled around the United States learning about pool hustling.
Author
_2014-01-30_07.jpg)
Ronnie has written three crime novels with author Emlyn Rees: Framed (2016), Double Kiss (2017), and The Break (2018). These books are not about his life, but they are inspired by his early experiences and family. He has also written two books about his own life. His first, Ronnie: The Autobiography of Ronnie O'Sullivan, came out in 2003. His second, Running: The Autobiography, was published in 2013. He also wrote a health and fitness book with nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert. It is called Top of Your Game: Eating for Mind and Body. It came out in 2019 and has healthy recipes and advice for living better.
Video Games
Ronnie has been part of several video games. These include Virtual Snooker in 1996, World Snooker Championship 2007 in 2007, and Ronnie O'Sullivan's Snooker for PlayStation Portable in 2012.
Documentary Film
A documentary film about Ronnie called Ronnie O'Sullivan: The Edge of Everything was made by David Beckham's company, Studio 99. It was directed by Sam Blair. The film was shown in London on 21 November 2023. It was released on Amazon Prime Video on 23 November. The film showed the challenges he faced as a top snooker player.
Snooker Course
In October 2023, Ronnie started an online snooker course called The Rocket Method. In this course, he teaches detailed lessons about the game for a fee. He is helped by Alan McManus. The course has 12 episodes, each about an hour long. The last episodes were released in March 2024. The course is filmed very well and was directed by Oscar-nominated director Gregg Helvey. The episodes are available in English and Mandarin Chinese.
Personal Life
Ronnie O'Sullivan was born on 5 December 1975 in Wordsley, West Midlands. His mother is from Sicily. Ronnie spent childhood holidays in the village where she grew up. He grew up in Chigwell, Essex, and went to Wanstead High School. As of mid-2024, he lives in Chingford and Woodford Green. He is a cousin of snooker player Maria Catalano, who was once ranked number one in women's snooker.
Ronnie has three children. He has a daughter named Taylor-Ann (born 1997) from a past relationship. He also has a son and a daughter from a relationship with Jo Langley. He became a grandfather in October 2018 when Taylor-Ann had a daughter. He started dating actress Laila Rouass in 2012 and they got engaged in 2013. They married in June 2025 at St George's Town Hall in Shadwell, East London.
Ronnie is known for always wanting to be perfect and for being hard on himself, even when he wins. Since 2011, his close friend and sports psychologist Steve Peters has helped him manage his feelings. He is also a close friend of artist Damien Hirst. Ronnie often talks about retiring from snooker. He enjoys running and has run 10 km races in good times. He also enjoys cooking and has appeared on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen. He likes motor racing and has been on Top Gear. He supports Arsenal FC.
Ronnie has said he is interested in Islam and Buddhism. He has spent time at the London Buddhist Centre. He has said he does not have a strong commitment to any one religion.
Maximum and Century Breaks
Ronnie O'Sullivan has made 15 maximum breaks in professional games. His first was in the 1997 World Snooker Championship against Mick Price. His most recent was in the 2018 English Open against Allan Taylor.
His first maximum break in 1997 was the fastest ever. It took 5 minutes and 8 seconds. This is a world record.
Ronnie also holds the record for the total number of century breaks. He has made over 1,200 century breaks in professional games. He made his 1,200th century in a match at the 2023 World Snooker Championship. At the 2022 Scottish Open, Ronnie made a century in 3 minutes and 34 seconds. This was only 3 seconds slower than the fastest televised century break ever.
Images for kids
-
At the 2015 German Masters
-
O'Sullivan with the 2012 German Masters trophy
-
O'Sullivan after winning his fifth World title in 2013
-
O'Sullivan during the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic
-
O'Sullivan at a 2014 book signing
See also
In Spanish: Ronnie O'Sullivan para niños
