‘I’m not doing it’ – Ronnie O’Sullivan reveals why he quit football to become seven-time world snooker champion
RONNIE O’Sullivan has revealed the reason he quit football and focused on snooker as a kid.
The seven-time world champion spoke on Eurosport’s coverage of the Masters, following his shock withdrawal from the tournament.
O’Sullivan claimed his “nightmare decision” to pull out of the Masters was due to exhaustion – and after he “lost the plot” by snapping his cue last week.
The current holder compared the mental fortitude between snooker and football, before explaining why he quit the latter in childhood.
The 49-year-old said: “Snooker is chess with balls. Chess is a mental sport. You’ve got to plan so many moves ahead, well this is no different.
“It’s not like football, they’re running around and diving in and they’ve got their team-mates and there’s adrenaline and they haven’t got time to think.
“This is pure focus. This is why I don’t want my kids to ever play snooker.
“When I used to play football as a kid, the reason I wanted to play snooker is because I didn’t want to rely on anyone.
“I thought I want to take snooker up because I’ve got these 10 team-mates here and am I going to put my faith in someone else?
“I thought ‘No I’d rather do this because I know I’m in control’.”
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World No.5 Mark Selby and former Scottish snooker player Alan McManus joined the discussion in the studio and agreed with O’Sullivan.
Selby added: “In our sport, there’s no hiding place is there? If you’re playing bad and you’re struggling, you get caught out.
“Like Ron said, in football if you’re playing bad but the team still wins, you’ve still got 10 people supporting you. People move on.”
O’Sullivan also called for World Snooker to employ a full-time mental health professional at tournaments to support players struggling with psychological pressures.
The World No.3’s plea comes after he broke his cue in frustration during a Championship League defeat by Robert Milkins in Leicester last week.
He said: “I think World Snooker should have somebody. In football, they have masseuses, people sorting out injuries.
“I think snooker should have someone at the tournament employed as like if someone is struggling, they’ve come off the table, ‘do you need 10 minutes with someone?
“It’s not about the money. It’s about pride in performance.”
The Masters – the second of the season’s Triple Crown events – gets underway on Sunday when John Higgins takes on O’Sullivan’s replacement Neil Robertson at Ally Pally in London.