Colin Murray remembers his time working with Ronnie O’Sullivan for Eurosport as some of my happiest memories and hardest days.
Now the host of Countdown on Channel 4, Murray was previously the host of snooker tournaments on Eurosport, where he worked with the likes of Jimmy White, Neal Foulds and O’Sullivan who were on punditry duty.
The Rocket would usually only be in the studio giving his views after he had been knocked out of a tournament, which Murray says brought predictable problems to the atmosphere on set.
‘It’s a weird one because the best tournaments with Ronnie were the ones you didn’t work with him, because that meant he went deep in the tournament, so therefore he was happy,’ Murray told the Talking Snooker podcast.
‘No matter what he says on camera, he was never, ever in a good place when he lost, especially that year [2019] he lost in the first round of the Worlds.
‘You’re taking a guy who’s used to winning but has lost first round in a tournament and his contract says he then has to work X amount of hours for Eurosport.
‘So you’re getting that competitor coming in and having to talk about the guy that beat him. Fair play to him he’d turn up and do the shifts, but not necessarily in the best frame of mind.
Murray admits that his relationship with the Rocket was not always brilliant, but did produce some unforgettable moments, one in particular that snooker fans would be extremely jealous of.
The former Match of the Day 2 presenter was treated to a personal lesson from the GOAT and a unique insight into his snooker brain.
‘Ronnie, and he knows this, him and I wouldn’t get on at times, and other times get on like a house on fire. It’s just the way it was and I think we both accepted it for what it was,’ said Murray.
‘Some of my happiest memories were with Ronnie and some of the hardest days were too.
‘One of my favourite memories ever was Ronnie just being on one one day, one of those days where everything was great and he gave me a 45 minute lesson just on my own on a snooker table, because I’m terrible at it.
‘It was amazing the way he described it and talked about it, it was hardly ever about snooker.
‘He would talk about violin concertos and orchestras, parts of songs and how songs were connected to shots, how a violinist plays and a snooker player plays is very similar.
‘I think in that 45 minute session with him my highest break went from 22 to 36, it was crazy. I had some amazing memories with him.’
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