{"id":626116,"date":"2026-04-23T17:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T17:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/626116\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T17:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T17:02:09","slug":"ronnie-osullivan-wishes-he-was-a-footballer-in-another-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/626116\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan Wishes He Was a Footballer in Another Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seven-time world champion Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan<\/a> is back at the Crucible for his 34th consecutive World Snooker Championship<\/a> appearance, a staggering run that has stretched across four different decades and shows no sign of slowing.<\/p>\n

The 50-year-old made light work of Chinese qualifier He Guoqiang in the first round, producing a ruthless 10-2 demolition to underline that, whatever the narrative around his future, the cue action still looks as sharp as ever.<\/p>\n

Next up is a mouth-watering second-round showdown with one of his oldest sparring partner and fellow Class of \u201992 icon John Higgins<\/a>, a familiar battle between two of snooker\u2019s most enduring greats, with decades of history already behind them.<\/p>\n

O\u2019SULLIVAN ON WHY HE KEEPS COMING BACK<\/p>\n

Despite constant speculation over whether a record-breaking eighth world title would trigger retirement, O\u2019Sullivan insists his continued presence in the sport is far more relaxed, and far less calculated, than many assume.<\/p>\n

He says snooker now sits comfortably in his life rather than consuming it, and that\u2019s what keeps him turning up for the biggest events.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to work for me. This has to be just a fun project\/hobby, if you know what I mean. So as long as certain things are good off the table, then I\u2019ll keep pitching up playing,\u201d O\u2019Sullivan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Far from chasing history at all costs, O\u2019Sullivan appears increasingly at ease with picking his moments, even if the competitive fire still burns underneath.<\/p>\n

LIFE AFTER SNOOKER \u2014 TEAM SPORTS AND A DIFFERENT DREAM<\/p>\n

While still competing at the very top, O\u2019Sullivan is thinking about life beyond the baize, and it doesn\u2019t involve a quiet retirement or a life of leisure.<\/p>\n

Instead, the snooker legend is drawn to the idea of team environments, where responsibility is shared and pressure is not carried alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ve always got my eyes on other things, because I don\u2019t want to be doing this for my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I\u2019d like to be part of a team for whatever I do in the second part of my life. And snooker, you just have to do it all by yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

He even mused about an alternative sporting life, one where he wouldn\u2019t be isolated under the spotlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I was a footballer or playing in the NFL or something where you can ask the boss if I could have a month off. Or please don\u2019t let me play against him because I don\u2019t like playing against him.\u201d<\/p>\n

TAKES AIM AT BOXING<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan also used the interview to revisit his long-standing frustration with modern boxing, contrasting it sharply with the rigid structure of snooker, where draws dictate your path and there is no avoiding elite opponents.<\/p>\n

He believes his own career has always demanded the toughest route possible, regardless of preference or timing.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut my whole career has been like, you\u2019ve got to be here this time, play that person. And I\u2019ve had to play all the best players of different generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went further, criticising what he sees as selective matchmaking in boxing today, and why it cooled his interest in the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of some of these fighters who get hand-picked opponents for them, I\u2019ve had to play the field. I always say, that\u2019s why I fell out of love with boxing, because some people get the easy path, some people have to do the hard path.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect boxers that do the hard path, because you think, OK, at least they\u2019re fighting the best out there. And I think my career has been like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without naming names, O\u2019Sullivan stressed that his own journey has always involved facing every generation head-on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had to just do it the hard way, if you like. I don\u2019t want too many more years of that. I think I deserve a bit of a break and deserve to be part of a team and let someone else do a little bit of work as well, but still be involved in some sort or form of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019M NEVER GOING TO RETIRE\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite all the talk of winding down, O\u2019Sullivan made it clear he has no intention of disappearing from sport entirely. Full retirement, he says, simply isn\u2019t in his nature.<\/p>\n

Even when the competitive playing days eventually end, he expects to remain involved in some capacity, just away from the relentless one-man grind of professional snooker.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m never going to retire, sit on the beach. That would just drive me crazy.\u00a0So, I need to have some sort of project on the go, otherwise life would be very boring,\u201d he concluded.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seven-time world champion Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan is back at the Crucible for his 34th consecutive World Snooker Championship appearance,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-626116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}