Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player, and current world number one.

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 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 has held the top ranking position multiple times.

O'Sullivan is known for his ambidexterity; he is right-handed but can play to a high standard with his left hand when required.

Despite these successes, his career also became marred by controversy in the late 1990s.

At the 1991 English Amateur Championship, aged, 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 winning amateur titles including the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, O'Sullivan turned professional in 1992, aged 16.

He, John Higgins, and Mark Williams all turned professional in the same season, and have since become known as the "Class of '92" for their collective dominance of snooker.

After turning professional in 1992, aged 16, he won 74 of his first 76 qualifying matches, including a record 38 consecutive professional victories.

O'Sullivan won his first ranking event at the 1993 UK Championship aged, becoming the youngest player to win a ranking title, a record he still holds.

He qualified for the televised stages of the 1993 World Championship, losing 7–10 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.

He is also the youngest player to win the Masters, having claimed his first title in 1995, aged.

Noted for his longevity, he is the oldest winner of all three Triple Crown events, having won his seventh world title in 2022, aged ; his eighth UK Championship title in 2023, aged ; and his eighth Masters title in 2024, aged.

As of 2023, he has made a record 31 appearances in the final stages of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible, surpassing the previous record of 30 appearances set by Steve Davis.

O'Sullivan made his first competitive century break at age 10 and his first competitive maximum break at age 15.

In the following season, he won the 1995 Masters aged to become the youngest Masters champion.

Between 1996 and 1999, O'Sullivan reached three World semi-finals in four years.

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.

He has made the highest number of officially recognised maximum breaks in professional competition, with 15, 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.

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 works as a pundit for Eurosport's snooker coverage and has written crime novels, autobiographies, and a health and fitness book.

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.

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.

His behaviour became notably erratic in the mid-2000s as he battled clinical depression.

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.

He was awarded an OBE in 2016.

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.

He features in the 2017 miniseries Ronnie O'Sullivan's American Hustle, which shows him competing against pool hustlers in the United States, and in the 2023 documentary film Ronnie O'Sullivan: The Edge of Everything.

He is the only player to have achieved 1,000 century breaks in professional competition, a milestone he reached in 2019, and which he has since extended to over 1,200 centuries.