Ronnie O'Sullivan maps out snooker retirement plan with sporting switch on the cards

O’Sullivan made these comments in the Far East last week during his competitive Chinese 8-ball pool debut.

Taking part in the Huacai World Open in Deqing, China - one of the most lucrative events on the pool circuit with a top prize in excess of £500,000 (5 million Chinese Yuan) - the seven-times world snooker champion impressed at times on his small table bow.

The Englishman - who received a direct ticket through to the last 64 of the competition - won two out of his opening three matches in the double elimination format to qualify for the final phase, the last 32 knockouts. However, his journey ended there as he was sounded defeated by China’s Zheng Xiao Huai, 17-6.

It was not the first time that O’Sullivan has dipped his toes into other cuesports. Earlier in his long, illustrious career, ‘The Rocket’ played 9-ball pool, representing Team Europe at the Mosconi Cup, and starring in the World Pool Masters, another major event on the 9-ball scene.

During the 2000s, O’Sullivan was one of several British cueists who travelled to the United States to chase riches on the ill-fated International Pool Tour before that 8-ball set-up came to a shuddering halt.

But O’Sullivan’s latest baize adventure may be for keeps, with the fledgling Chinese 8-ball pool (the cue discipline is also widely referred to as ‘heyball’) scene gradually gaining global interest, and the sport putting down foundations for an Olympic future.

What is heyball, and how is it different to snooker?

Heyball pool is essentially a hybrid cuesport, bringing together elements from several different baize disciplines. It is played on a small-sized snooker table with a napped cloth, and with 'American Pool' balls (which are bigger and heavier than snooker balls) consisting of spots and stripes. The pockets and its sizes are cut similar to what you associate with professional matchplay snooker.

Without going too deep into the rules and nuances, the aim is to pot all the balls in your nominated set (spots or stripes) followed by the black 8-ball to win that frame.

Speaking to CGTN last week, record 23-time snooker major event winner O’Sullivan explained how the two cuesports differ: "The only way to compare it would be playing tennis or table tennis, it's such a very different sport.

"It's like asking Roger Federer to try and play one of the top Chinese table tennis players and expecting him to win – it's a very very different game.

"The balls are a lot bigger, a lot heavier, the cushions come off at different angles and the cloth is very different, the cues are a lot fatter – so everything's different really. But I've played for four or five days now, so I'm adjusting a little bit."

O’Sullivan may turn sole focus to heyball in three or four years’ time

Within the past several months, O’Sullivan has expressed his desire to play in big heyball events; these are pretty much all currently based in China, and invariably, it is home players who dominate proceedings.

Last December, O’Sullivan took part in a high-profile exhibition event, and he apparently practiced hard ahead of his debut at the recent World Open, training with top players to become more accustomed to the sport.

On the snooker scene, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, O’Sullivan has not won a professional event of any description for the past two seasons - the first time he has gone back-to-back terms trophyless, although he did win both the World Seniors Championship and Global 900 Championship titles last month.

With both disciplines so different, O’Sullivan has acknowledged that if he wants to take up the heyball challenge seriously, he can not continue to juggle between codes and would have to concentrate on only one, full-time.

Having turned 50-years-old last December, the 41-time ranking event winner is starting to look at a future not playing top-flight snooker, with heyball taking over his competitive diary instead. "At the moment, I'm enjoying my snooker, so maybe I'll do another three, four years of that," he said to CGTN.

"Then maybe when I'm 54, 55, maybe a little bit too old to play snooker, I can come here, play some Chinese 8-ball, have some fun, relax.

"You can't play snooker and try to play pool, it's impossible. Impossible. If I decide to play pool full-time, I would never play snooker again. You can't do both. You can only be very good at one. You can't have your cake and eat it."

Heyball could be “as big as golf” says O’Sullivan

There are several tournaments on the heyball scene in China with huge first prizes similar to what was on offer in Deqing, although the circuit is still relatively new at this ‘professional’ level, and the top prize is massively inflated compared to payouts for other positions in the same event.

In recent times, an international calendar has been set up with continental championships in order to increase participation from more countries, although prize funds in these are extremely modest compared to showpieces staged in China.

O’Sullivan would like to see heyball become more popular in areas where cuesports already have a firm foothold: "It'd be great if Europe and America could start playing the game. The sport is so big here in China, so the prize money is really big.

"But if you can grow this sport globally I think it would be huge. Obviously pool is very popular in America, and the two biggest countries in the world are China and America – so if they can both play the same sport and compete against each other, it could be as big as golf, maybe."