Ronnie O'Sullivan reveals which sport he will take up after retiring from snooker

Ronnie O'Sullivan has revealed which sport he wants to take up when he retires from snooker. The 50-year-old spoke ahead of the Masters, which will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+. O'Sullivan has had a mixed season so far, reaching the final of the Saudi Arabia Masters but being eliminated from the first round of the UK Championship.

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Ronnie O'Sullivan has revealed that he would like to compete at the highest level of Heyball when his illustrious snooker career comes to an end.

The 50-year-old spoke after facing Zheng Yubo and Chu Bingjie at the ‘Battle of the Century’ in Hangzhou, China.

Heyball, which is sometimes referred to as Chinese 8-ball pool, is a cuesport that is played on a nine-foot table with rounded pockets and 57mm balls.

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Zheng and Chu are two of the sport’s biggest stars, and O'Sullivan says he would like to play them again in the final of a major tournament one day.

"I enjoyed the pool more than the snooker; it’s a great game," he said.

"I love playing snooker on this table with the pool balls, a new experience, and I’ve had a great time.

"I’ve never been that excited about a game.

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"This is going to be the future for me once snooker’s finished.

"Obviously, using new equipment and bigger balls and the cue is a bit fatter.

"I just want to keep playing, keep improving, and hopefully one day I can play one of these guys in the final of a big tournament in China."

O'Sullivan showed his class against his more experienced opponents, beating Chu 7-5 in his first match before battling back from 6-2 down to beat Zheng 7-6 in his second.

Zheng and Chu teamed up to face O'Sullivan at snooker after the Heyball concluded, and surprisingly, they came out on top in the best-of-nine frames clash.

The Chinese scotch doubles team battled to a hard-fought 5-2 win over the seven-time world snooker champion.

O'Sullivan will face Neil Robertson in the first round of the 2026 Masters in January, having been absent from the Scottish Open and Shoot Out in December.

He did take part in the UK Championship, but was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by Zhou Yuelong.

O'Sullivan has won a record eight Masters titles during his career, with his last triumph coming in 2024.

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The 50-year-old snooker legend has not won a ranking event title since he came out on top against Judd Trump in the final of the 2024 World Grand Prix.

He has taken part in a wide variety of cuesports other than snooker over the years.

O'Sullivan was part of Team Europe at the Mosconi Cup on two occasions, storming to an impressive victory over nine-ball pool icon Earl Strickland in 1996 before taking part again in 1997.

O'Sullivan has won the Scottish Open twice during his career, but he did not take part this time around.

The tournament is heating up at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh.

The quarter-finals will see Mark Allen face Joe O'Connor and Mark Selby take on Chang Bingyu.

That is not all, though. Jiang Jun will go head-to-head with England’s Matthew Selt and Chris Wakelin will take on Zhou Yuelong.

The quarter-finals will get underway on December 19, with the final scheduled to be held on December 21.

Catch every second of the 2025 Scottish Open on TNT Sports and discovery+. Watch and stream the 2025/26 snooker season, including the Masters.

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