Ronnie O’Sullivan reveals plan to achieve ‘one last ambition left in snooker’

Ronnie O’Sullivan has his sights set firmly on a record eighth World Snooker Championship, building his playing schedule around his ‘one last ambition left’ in the game.

The Rocket has seven world titles to his name, a modern day record he shares with Stephen Hendry.

His last Crucible glory came in 2022 and now at 50 years old, time may be running out to get his hands on the famous old trophy for an eighth time.

The world number eight reckons he has got three or four years of having a good chance to win the World Championship, focused on his one remaining goal in the sport.

‘I’d like to win one more,’ he said at this week’s German Masters. ‘I will probably have three or four genuine attempts at it.

‘I think that is going to be my main goal for the rest of my career, to try and win one more. If I can that would be great, but still just try and enjoy the game, enjoy the crowds and enjoy the tournaments.’

The Rocket has played a light schedule this season, with the highlight a run to the final of the Saudi Arabia Masters, but a first round exit at the UK Championship in December was followed by a withdrawal from the Masters this month on medical grounds.

He is back on the baize this week in Berlin, though, hoping that he can hit form in time for the Crucible in April.

‘I think I might have left it a little bit late,’ he said of this year’s world title challenge. ‘I’ve got this tournament, Hong Kong [Grand Prix] and then maybe Yushan [World Open] and that’s probably it for me before Sheffield.

‘I’m not saying I can’t do it this year, I’d have to do alright in some of these tournaments beforehand. Maybe if get to the quarters of the Worlds, you never know. It’s a different animal, that tournament, once you get to that stage, anybody can win it really.

‘So, yeah, I think that would be one last ambition left in snooker – to get the eighth World. It would be 8-8-8. Lucky for the Chinese, they love a number 8. That would be nice. That would be great to do that.’

There is certainly no sign that O’Sullivan intends to hang up his cue in the near future, plotting a more focussed schedule next season.

‘I’ll keep trying to peak towards certain tournaments, I think I might have left it a little bit late for the Worlds, you never know,’ he said. ‘But hopefully next year I can play a bit more, stack a few tournaments together and at least go into the big ones with some sort of match form behind me.

‘But I’ve had a great year in terms of enjoying practicing, enjoying the game more than ever, enjoying not travelling here there and everywhere. Doing something I love, which is playing snooker, but going home, having dinner and being with the family.’

O’Sullivan is now based in Dubai, with the number of days per year he can work in the UK limited and clearly travel to British tournaments now much further then when he lived in Essex.

‘I don’t mind practising, I enjoy that,’ he said. ‘If every tournament could be a 20-minute drive from my house I’d probably play in a lot more tournaments, it’s just that the travelling can grind you down.

‘At some point you’ve got to get a bit more balance in your life.

‘But I love practicing, love the game. I’m working hard, I haven’t been playing a lot of tournaments, but I’ve been working hard on my game.’

The Rocket got his German Masters campaign underway on Tuesday with a 5-1 win over China’s Long Zehuang, not anywhere near his sparkling best, but good enough to set up a meeting with Ali Carter in the next round.

‘I’ve been feeling a lot better in practice,’ he said. ‘I felt the tables were unbelievably fast. I just couldn’t control the ball.

‘I haven’t played on tournament tables that much. So you have to hit them differently, you have to strike them more pure, more confidently. I haven’t really had enough practice in those type of conditions. So that was tough.

‘Pockets felt a little bit tight for me because the practice tables I have been playing on are a bit more generous than that.’

O’Sullivan plays Carter in the last 32 in Berlin on Wednesday at 7pm.

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