RONNIE O'SULLIVAN has revealed he plans to open a food bank when he retires from snooker.
The Rocket, 46, won the World Snooker Championships for a record equalling seventh time in May but he is looking at life beyond the sport.
And he is determined to help people when he eventually hangs up his waitcoat.
O'Sullivan volunteered at a food bank in Walthamstow on Christmas Day in 2020 and said he felt at home working with the people who operate it and its clientele.
He told The Climb podcast: "I woke up the other morning and thought these last weeks since I won the World Championships, the first week I was knackered and a bit low and didn’t feel like doing anything.
"Then I came out of it, but it wasn’t as good a payback as I thought, I’m not feeling the same high as when I won the first, or third of fourth one.
"That’s not a good sign. I thought, what will actually make me happy and give me a purpose in life?
"I thought, I know what I need to do, I need to open up a food bank, for people who can’t get the basics in life, a bit of food!
"That’s probably the next thing I want to do because I worked with one in Walthamstow.
"I was helping there on Christmas Day, it goes all year round [and] it’s great what they do, but I was there on Christmas Day and I just looked at the people there and what they do, the people who come there and I just felt good being there, I felt good being around those people. The whole thing about it felt right, to be part of it.
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"For me now I need challenges like that and things that make you feel good about yourself."
O'Sullivan's revelation comes not long after he said he was not too bothered about his performances after returning to snooker following a two-month absence after his Crucible crown.
In his podcast appearance O'Sullivan also spoke about having interests outside the sport and not being restricted to snooker.
He added: "I don’t want to be that person who finishes his career and just feels lost. It’s so important to have a purpose in life. For me I’m always looking for the next purpose and it can never be snooker.
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"It’s too demanding, it’s too difficult, it’s too on your own, it’s too fickle.
"To try and invest your whole time and energy and it can be taken away from you – not because of anything you’ve done, but the competition might be better or you have a bad back – so you think, I can’t play, so what do I do? It’s difficult to make that transition, I think."
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