Ronnie O'Sullivan says anyone can be like Steve Davis, John Higgins or me, but not Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry
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Published 23/12/2024 at 17:48 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan denied that he was a talented youngster and named the coach who was instrumental in his first World Championship win back in 2001. The Rocket said that, with the right consistency, anyone can play the sport like Steve Davis, John Higgins or himself. O'Sullivan was speaking to World Snooker Tour at the launch of his first snooker academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan has said that anyone has the potential to play snooker like himself, Steve Davis or John Higgins.
The record 23-time Triple Crown title winner picked out Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry as the true natural talents of the sport, while he highlighted Davis as the ideal model for any rising star.
Contrary to popular belief, O’Sullivan insisted he was never the most talented youngster and needed advice from Frank Adamson to break "bad habits" and win his first World Championship.
Six more world titles later, the 49-year-old is still of the opinion that the repetitive nature of snooker makes it a sport where anyone can succeed.
"Not everyone can be a Jimmy White or Stephen Hendry, but anyone can be like Davis, John Higgins or me," O’Sullivan told WST.
"If you can learn good fundamentals and get them right, you can become very consistent because it’s a repetitive sport.
"You can’t follow anyone better than Davis, no one comes near him for doing all the right things.
"He didn’t coach me personally, but I watched everything he did. His tempo, the way he hit the ball, the way he played safe, his ability to keep still on every shot… he was incredible."
O’Sullivan became the youngest player to hit a 147 break in a recognised tournament, sinking a maximum at the 1991 English Amateur Championship at the age of 15 years and 98 days.
That record has since been beaten by Sean Maddocks in 2018, but O’Sullivan is adamant that success in the sport did not come easily.
"Everyone in every sport has to learn," said O’Sullivan. "People say I’m gifted, but I wasn’t the most gifted junior or amateur. I always had to work hard at my game.
"I was never a good safety player or potter, or not as good as some of the others who were playing at the time.
"I was always good at scoring, that was my thing. But I had to learn the other stuff. I didn’t have a good temperament; I still don’t deal with bad spells that well."
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'I didn't know what to do' - O'Sullivan admits playing his 'worst' snooker in last two years
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Some would argue that the seven-time world champion is going through one such poor run of form, having not won a title on the professional tour since picking up the World Masters of Snooker in March.
That was in Riyadh, and The Rocket was back in the Saudi Arabian capital this October to open his first snooker academy, where he was speaking to WST about his rise to the top of the sport.
"A lot of people think it’s just talent, but if you ask players who have spent time with me, they are surprised at how dedicated I am and how seriously I take practice," said O’Sullivan.
"When I was young, I saw Stephen Hendry practise and realised he was the hardest worker on the tour. It’s true in any sport. That’s why they are the best, because they are willing to put the work in."
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Even O’Sullivan needed to seek outside help to take his game to the next level, admitting that he did not take practice or technique as seriously when he was a teenager.
O’Sullivan said: "I never used to as a kid, that was my biggest downfall. It held me back and made my career tougher than it needed to be.
"I got into bad habits when I was 16 or 17 and it got worse and worse. That’s why I had to go and see Frank Adamson.
"I knew I wasn’t going to win the World Championship; I was good one day, terrible next, when in this game you need consistency.
"Frank had to deconstruct my game, take it apart. Within the first year I managed to win the world title - not by playing better, but just by being a bit more consistent."
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