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Ronnie O'Sullivan

After a scintillating start to the 2008/09 season, the Rocket ran out of fuel towards the end of the campaign, failing to reach the quarter-finals of any of the last four ranking events.
The season started at the Northern Ireland Trophy in Belfast and O’Sullivan picked up where he finished off the 07/08 campaign – by taking home the silverware. He beat Ken Doherty, Joe Perry, Barry Hawkins and Ali Carter to reach the final, then scored a comfortable 9-3 victory over Dave Harold. O’Sullivan’s supremely-crafted 76 clearance in the seventh frame, to win it from 60-0 down, was as good an example of his genius as any of the 147 breaks he compiled the previous season.
After taking his 21st ranking title, O’Sullivan opined that he had the potential to surpass Steve Davis’ mark of 28, even if Stephen Hendry’s record of 36 was out of reach. "I should be able to get past that,” he said. “I have thought about it, and seven more is not that many. It would be nice to get to 30 if I play long enough. My form is much more consistent than it has been in the past.”
On to the Roewe Shanghai Masters and O’Sullivan threatened to take his tally to 22. In reaching the final he extended his winning sequence to 14 ranking event matches, only to suffer a 10-8 reverse to Ricky Walden, arguably the shock result of the season. “I wasn’t at the races, I was poor,” admitted the Chigwell cueman.
In December, O’Sullivan extended his hegemony in the Premier League, in which he is rarely troubled by the 25-second shot clock, by winning his fifth consecutive title and eighth in all, beating Mark Selby 7-2 in the final. But going into the Masters, snooker’s most prestigious invitation tournament, he was overcome by a bout of frustration and smashed his cue against the side of the table while practising, damaging it irreperably. Using a new model provided hastily by John Parris, O’Sullivan showcased his extraordinary natural ability by winning the tournament, beating Joe Perry, Ali Carter and Stephen Maguire before edging out Mark Selby 10-8 in an exciting final and lifting the trophy at Wembley for the fourth time. "It’s got to be my greatest achievement, to win it with a new cue," he said.
By the time the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship came around, he only needed to win his first round match against Stuart Bingham to ensure his official world No 1 status was retained for the 2009/10 season, and he duly accomplished that with a 10-5 victory. However, his bid to become the first player for 13 years to retain the World title came acropper in the second round as he suffered a 13-11 reverse against Mark Allen. “I’m not surprised, anyone would have beaten me playing on that type of form,” said O’Sullivan, whose long potting was well below its usual standard.
The previous season had been arguably the best of O’Sullivan’s career as he made three maximums to take his career tally to a record nine, and won the Maplin UK Championship as well as his third World crown. His 18-8 defeat of Carter in the Crucible final saw him take a step towards fulfilling his massive potential.
He first won the world title in 2001 when he beat Higgins 18-14 in the Crucible final and took his second crown in 2004 when he easily saw off Graeme Dott 18-8.
O’Sullivan’s fast, attacking style and charismatic personality have made him snooker’s most popular player across the globe.
Blessed with the rare gift of being able to play to a high standard both left-handed and right-handed, he made the fastest 147 on record at the 1997 World Championship, a blur of potting which lasted 5 minutes and 20 seconds.
In a match against Carter at the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy, O’Sullivan became the first player ever to make five centuries (including a 147) in a ranking event best-of-nine match, winning the game 5-2.
Away from snooker, he is dedicated to long distance running, a pastime which he believes has helped him enormously in his battle against depression. He has become a close friend of the artist Damien Hirst since the pair met at the Crucible in 2008.
O’Sullivan and partner Jo Langley have a daughter called Lily, born in February 2006, and a son called Ronnie born in June 2007.

He started the 2009/10 season superbly by winning the Roewe Shanghai Masters, beating Liang Wenbo in the final.

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