Ronnie O’Sullivan makes Messi claim and now prioritises another sport

Ronnie O’Sullivan explains why he made a 146 in 2016

Ronnie O’Sullivan is bidding to win an eighth World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in the upcoming weeks, having been drawn against Pang Junxu in the first round. An eighth victory would have ‘The Rocket’ out on his own with the most titles, having drawn level with Stephen Hendry last year.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, O’Sullivan fielded questions from several past and present sports stars for Eurosport as he gave an insight into his life at the table and away from it. Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand sent in a voice note asking which sportspeople inspire the 47-year-old, who gave Ferdinand four names in reply.

“In individual sports, the big one for me was obviously [Roger] Federer,” O’Sullivan said. “Now it’s [Novak] Djokovic because he is doing some fantastic things in his sport. In football, obviously I would have to say [Lionel] Messi – I think he’s just the governor.

“You just watch him play, it’s something else isn’t it? We all love Messi. Big Lionel fan, big Djokovic fan, Usain Bolt as well. He’s one of the kings for me.”

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After declaring Messi “the governor” O’Sullivan then went on to talk about one of his favourite sports away from snooker, running. He is an avid cross-country runner and even went as far as to say he’s more into it than potting balls – having been asked by Olympic cyclist Chris Froome to detail the physical training that goes into becoming an elite snooker star.

“Really, you don’t need a lot of physical attributes to play snooker,” O’Sullivan said. “But I think it would be advisable just to clear your head – and the equivalent of a 20-minute run every day would be ideal. It’s long enough to get a bit of a sweat on, but short enough to not overdo it or leave yourself knackered for when you have to play snooker.

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“I tend to run a lot further because I got hooked on running long-distance races, so I tend to do 35-40 miles a week. A lot of the time I’m too tired to even play snooker! So I’ve got it the wrong way round, but I’m more into running than I am into snooker. I have been for the last 15-20 years!

“But it helps me because it’s a bit of a distraction away from snooker and it helps me have a better perspective on things.

“It’s not really a physical game, but it helps to do something that clears the mind. Snooker is a bit of a mental sport so the more you can clear the mind, the better it is to go back to snooker to play again.”

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