Ronnie O’Sullivan may have cemented his place as the greatest snooker player of all-time, but he feels he could have done even more in his career so far.
The seven-time world champion shares the record for most Crucible titles with Stephen Hendry, while he is clear at the top of the list of most ranking titles with 39.
Few question his status as the GOAT on the baize, but he believes he has underachieved to an extent as he struggled with addiction for a number of years in the ’90s, which cost him on the table.
When he won the 1993 UK Championship as a 17-year-old he looked set to rack a huge amount of big titles in the years to follow but it wasn’t until 2001 that he won his first World Championship.
The Rocket feels that if he had stayed closer to the straight and narrow then he would have been even more successful than he has been.
‘Obviously there was massive gaps where I lost six, seven years to drinking and taking cannabis,’ O’Sullivan told Radio 4’s Today Programme when asked about whether he has fulfilled his potential.
‘Then there was maybe another four years where I was dealing with stuff away from the table which I didn’t deal with very well.
‘I wasn’t focusing on snooker, I suppose everybody has them problems, but there are 10 years there were I didn’t really do much. I didn’t practice much, I didn’t have the right headspace to win.
‘I like to think that if that wouldn’t have happened…also I had technical problems with my game which is the worst thing for any sportsman that plays golf, tennis or snooker, they’re very technical sports.
‘Once you start questioning how you’re hitting the ball you start to overthink, lose the zone and it becomes a hard game.’
The 47-year-old conquered his addiction problems, checking into rehab in 2000, which set him back on course to become the greatest to ever pick up a cue.
He explains that once he had ditched the drink and drugs, there was a assimilation process as he rediscovered his personality, which he felt had been lost.
Asked what his lowest point was, O’Sullivan said: ‘I’ve had a few. The obvious ones were putting on a lot of weight, I was dependent on drinking and wacky baccy just to get through the day.
‘I lost my personality, lost my confidence, I felt like I needed to take substances just to feel like I could socialise.
‘You get clean and become a little bit awkward in social situations, so anxiety began to affect me in certain ways.
‘It was weird, I had to learn how to do all the stuff again, it took time. But once I got there I’ve realised you have to carve out a different life for yourself.
‘My happy place is going running in the morning, I’ve got my running friends and I’m cool with that.’
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