Ronnie O'Sullivan reiterates desire to change cuesport codes amidst retirement talk

O’Sullivan is currently in the middle of his latest quest to claim a record eighth World Snooker Championship title at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

‘The Rocket’ began his campaign earlier this week with a comprehensive 10-2 opening round win over Chinese debutant He Guoqiang. That result set him up a blockbuster last 16 showdown with fellow ‘Class of 92’ graduate John Higgins that begins on Saturday night in South Yorkshire.

Now aged 50, O’Sullivan is making a record 34th Crucible appearance this year. He has been an ever-present on snooker’s grandest stage ever since qualifying for the 1993 edition during his rookie season as a professional.

Compared to his fellow top 16 peers, O’Sullivan’s playing schedule has been considerably lighter this season, likely down to fact that he has largely been residing in Dubai and has restrictions on how many days he can work in the UK.

His ongoing world championship trip is only his second competitive engagement on British soil this season after a first round exit to Zhou Yuelong at the UK Championship in December.

“I play snooker for a hobby” says O’Sullivan

When O’Sullivan was much younger, he threats about retiring. Whilst that’s not on his near-future agenda, the record 41-time ranking event winner has an idea on when it would be right to walk away from the rigours of top-flight snooker.

Speaking to TNT Sports after his first round win at the Crucible, O’Sullivan was asked if he will ever retire.

"Yeah...my career is kind of based around if certain things off the table suit me. I'm not going to be turning up like playing for ranking points or playing this game for a living - put it that way” said the Englishman.

"I enjoy my life, I like to do stuff away from the table. So I'm a bit more like I play snooker for a hobby. It has to fit into my life and has to feel very, very comfortable for me. I couldn't do the hard slog that most players seem to put themselves through on the tour. So, it has to be worth it me.”

O’Sullivan looking to the future on a different type of table

Towards the end of last year, O’Sullivan made his big stage debut in the Chinese 8-ball pool world (this cuesport discipline is also referred to as ‘heyball’) in the Far East.

In an exhibition event in Hangzhou, China, O’Sullivan faced home country duo Zheng Yubo and Chu Bingjie - two of the biggest star names on the heyball circuit.

Billed as the ‘Battle of the Century’ by organisers, the seven-time world snooker champion defeated both Zheng and Chu, although both results should be taken with a big pinch of salt as it wasn’t a truly competitive environment.

Chinese 8-ball pool is essentially a hybrid cuesport which is gaining popularity worldwide. It is effectively played on a small-sized snooker table that has a napped cloth and snooker-style cut pockets. American pool balls - which are larger and heavier than snooker balls - are used.

An international circuit is establishing, and organisers are pushing for the sport to be included in the Olympic Games. The winner of the recent World Heyball Masters received approximately £540,000, although the first prize in this event was heavily-weighted.

Following his debut, O’Sullivan said: “I’ve never been that excited about a game. This is going to be the future for me once snooker’s finished.”

He then upped the ante, saying in a social media post that he will be world pool 8-ball champion in ‘two, three years’.

Continuing his conversation with TNT Sports in Sheffield, it was an angle that O’Sullivan revisited: "The minute that kind of feels like the juice ain't worth the squeeze then I kind of probably go to China 8 (ball pool/heyball) and just see what I could do in it. I'd be quite interested to see if I could get good at it and compete with them guys just coz it'd be quite a bit of a buzz.

"And then after that I'd probably just go into other things away from sport totally.”

O’Sullivan has previously dipped his toes into other cuesports alongside his snooker duties. He represented Team Europe at the Mosconi Cup in 1996 and 1997 - scoring a singles win over one of 9-ball pool’s greatest-ever players, Earl Strickland, at the ‘96 edition.

Several years later, the Englishman travelled across the Atlantic to take part in the International Pool Tour (IPT), a bold new series for American 8-ball pool that promised huge riches before the circuit unceremoniously collapsed.