Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in snooker history, he has won the World Snooker Championship seven times, a modern-era record he holds jointly with Stephen Hendry. He has also won a record eight Masters titles and a record eight UK Championship titles for a total of 23 Triple Crown titles, the most achieved by any player. He holds the record for the most ranking titles, with 41, and he has been ranked world number one on five separate occasions throughout his career.

After winning amateur titles including the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, O'Sullivan turned professional in 1992, aged 16. At the age of 17 years and 358 days, he won his first ranking event at the 1993 UK Championship and remains the youngest player to win a ranking title. He is also the youngest player to win the Masters, having claimed his first title in 1995, aged 19 years and 69 days. It took him longer to achieve success at the World Championship, it wasn't until 2001 that he reached his first world final and he went on to defeat John Higgins 18–14 at the Crucible to claim his first World Championship and complete the career Triple Crown aged 25. He tied Stephen Hendry's modern day record of seven World Championship titles in 2022 when he defeated Judd Trump 18–13 in the final. Now also noted for his longevity in the sport, he is the oldest winner of all three Triple Crown events, having won his seventh world title in 2022, aged 46 years and 148 days; his eighth UK Championship title in 2023, aged 47 years and 363 days; and his eighth Masters title in 2024, aged 48 years and 40 days. As of 2025, he has made a record 33 appearances in the final stages of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible.

O'Sullivan made his first competitive century break at age 10 and his first competitive maximum break at age 15. He was the first player to achieve 1,000 century breaks in professional competition, a milestone he reached in 2019 and which he has since extended to over 1,300 centuries. He has made the highest number of officially recognised maximum breaks in professional competition, with 17, and holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest competitive maximum break, compiled in a time of 5 minutes and 8 seconds at the 1997 World Championship. At the 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, he became the second player (after Jackson Page) to make two maximums in the same match as well as becoming the oldest player (aged 49 years and 253 days) to make a maximum in professional competition.

During his career, O'Sullivan has experienced depression, mood swings, and drug and alcohol abuse. Known as a controversial and outspoken figure on the professional tour, he has been disciplined on several occasions by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association for his behaviour and comments. Outside his playing career, he has worked as a pundit for televised snooker coverage and has written crime novels, autobiographies, and a health and fitness book. He features in the 2017 miniseries Ronnie O'Sullivan's American Hustle and in the 2023 documentary film Ronnie O'Sullivan: The Edge of Everything. With Mark Williams and John Higgins, he is one of three players collectively known as the "Class of '92", who all turned professional during the 1992‍–‍93 season. A member of the World Snooker Tour Hall of Fame, he was appointed an OBE in 2016.

Career summary

O'Sullivan began playing snooker at age 7 and soon became a noted amateur competitor, winning his first club tournament at age 9, making his first competitive century break at age 10, and winning the British Under-16 Championship at age 13. At the 1991 English Amateur Championship, aged 15 years and 98 days, he made his first competitive maximum break, then the youngest player ever to do so in a recognised tournament. In the same year, he won the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship and Junior Pot Black.

After turning professional in 1992, aged 16, he won 74 of his first 76 qualifying matches, including a record 38 consecutive professional victories. He qualified for the televised stages of the 1993 World Championship, losing 10–7 to Alan McManus on his Crucible debut. He claimed his first ranking title later that year, beating Hendry 10–6 in the final of the 1993 UK Championship seven days before his 18th birthday to become the youngest-ever winner of a ranking event, a record he still holds. In the following season, he won the 1995 Masters aged 19 years and 69 days to become the youngest Masters champion.

Between 1996 and 1999, O'Sullivan reached three World semi-finals in four years. At the 1997 World Championship, he achieved his first maximum break in professional competition. Compiled in a time of 5 minutes and 8 seconds, it remains the fastest competitive maximum break in snooker history, which is listed as a Guinness World Record. He won his second UK title later that year at the 1997 UK Championship. Despite these successes, his career also became marred by controversy in the late 1990s. During the 1996 World Championship, he assaulted an assistant press officer, for which he received a suspended two-year ban and a £20,000 fine. After winning the 1998 Irish Masters, he was stripped of his title and prize money when a post-match drug test found evidence of cannabis in his system. O'Sullivan subsequently acknowledged frequent abuse of drugs and alcohol in the early years of his career, which resulted in spells in the Priory Hospital for rehabilitation.

He reached his first World final in 2001, where he defeated John Higgins 18–14 to claim his first World title and reached number two in the world rankings. He won his third UK Championship later that year, which helped him attain the world number one ranking for the first time in the 2002–03 season. With veteran six-time World Champion Ray Reardon acting as his coach and mentor, he won his second World title in 2004, defeating Graeme Dott 18–8 in the final, after which he held the number one ranking for the next two seasons. He added his second Masters title in 2005, ten years after his first. His behaviour became notably erratic in the mid-2000s as he battled clinical depression. During the 2005 World Championship, he shaved his head mid-tournament and exhibited what The Independent called a "public emotional disintegration" while losing 11 of the last 14 frames in his quarter-final defeat against Peter Ebdon. At the 2005 UK Championship, he sat with a wet towel draped over his head during his match against Mark King. Trailing Hendry 4–1 in their best-of-17-frames quarter-final at the 2006 UK Championship, he abruptly conceded the match during the sixth frame and left the arena. Hendry was awarded the match 9–1 and O'Sullivan was fined £20,800 over the incident.

In 2007, O'Sullivan won his third Masters title and his fourth UK Championship, which was his first ranking title in almost three years. He won his third World title in 2008, defeating Ali Carter 18–8 in the final, after which he held the world number one ranking for the next two seasons. He added his fourth Masters title in 2009. After two poor seasons that saw him fall out of the top ten in the world rankings for the first time, he began working with psychiatrist Steve Peters in 2011. A resurgent O'Sullivan captured his fourth World title in 2012, defeating Carter 18–11 in the final, after which he paid tribute to Peters' work with him. In the following season, he took an extended break from the professional tour. Despite having played only one competitive match all season, he returned to the Crucible for the 2013 World Championship and successfully defended his World title, defeating Barry Hawkins 18–12 in the final. In his 2014 Masters quarter-final against Ricky Walden, he set a new record for the most points scored without reply in professional competition, with 556, and went on to beat the defending champion Mark Selby 10–4 in the final to claim his fifth Masters title. At the 2014 World Championship, he reached a third consecutive world final, where he again faced Selby. Despite taking a 10–5 lead, O'Sullivan lost 18–14, his first defeat in a world final. Later in 2014, he won his fifth UK Championship, beating Judd Trump 10–9 in the final. However, he declined to defend his title the following year and pulled out of the 2015 UK Championship, citing debilitating insomnia. At the 2015 Masters, he made his 776th century break in professional competition, surpassing Hendry's record for the most career centuries.

O'Sullivan won two consecutive Masters tournaments in 2016 and 2017 for a record seven Masters titles. He also won two consecutive UK Championships in 2017 and 2018 for a record seven UK titles, attaining a total of 19 Triple Crown titles to surpass Hendry's total of 18. During the 2017–18 season, he won five ranking events. He defeated Neil Robertson 10–4 in the final to win the 2019 Players Championship. In the last frame of the match, he made his 1,000th century break in professional competition, becoming the first player to reach that milestone. He won his 36th ranking title at the 2019 Tour Championship, equalling Hendry's record and attaining the world number one ranking for the first time since May 2010.