East End London, 1985, a 10 years old boy amazed the audience knocking in a break of 117: Ronnie O’Sullivan started his astonishing and controversial snooker career.
At the age of 12 he made a total clearance of 142 and a year later he became “British Under-16 Champion”, title that he’d lose the following season at the semi-final stage. Still only 14, Ronnie was winning prizes of up to £1000. At the English Amateur Championships in 1991, he made his first 147, losing though in the final. The same year he won the IBSF World Under-21 Championship, but at the World Amateur 1991 he finished in the last 16. Stephen Lee defeats him in the Southern final of the 1992 English Amateur Championship.
In the summer of 1992, Ronnie O’Sullivan, nicknamed “Essex Exocet”, turned professional and began the long qualifying process for the World Championship. Winning 38 straight matches, he established a still valid record and qualified for all but one of the ranking events. In non-ranking events he won his first professional title in the Nescafe Extra Challenge and reached the semi-final of the Humo Masters, as well as the one of the Strachan Challenge, finishing his debut season ranked 57th.
1993/1994:
• At the Dubai Classic he reaches the semi-finals.
• Becomes the youngest ever winner of a ranking event.
• Playing against Stephen Hendry in the final, he loses the European Open title.
• Winner of the British Open (against James Wattana).
• At the Crucible he finishes in the top 16, at number 9, after a match with John Parrott.
• He collects the Benson & Hedges Championship title.
• At the Masters he fails to get past his opening match.
1994/1995:
• Despite 2 finals, 2 semi-finals and 3 quarters, fails to add another ranking event victory, but takes home the £120000 winners cheque in the Benson & Hedges Masters giving him, already, 2 of snooker’s big 3 titles.
• Moves up to the third place in the rankings.
1995/1996:
• Wins the non-ranking Charity Challenge.
• It is the second season in which he doesn’t succeed in winning any ranking event, even though he gets to the final at Wembley and the semis at the World Championships.
• Drops down to 8th in rankings, while John Higgins catches most of the season’s glory.
• Scandal surrounds the World Championship: he hits a press officer and gets punished with a fine of £20000 plus a 2 year suspended ban after having to face the WPBSA disciplinary committee.
• At the same World Championship, he is accused by his opponent Alain Robidoux (over whom he wins an easy 10-3) of disrespect because of having played left-handed; Ronnie’s reaction: “I’m better left-handed than he is right-handed”. (Can man not to love him J? - Dana)
1996/1997:
• Wins both the German Open and the Asian Classic.
• Winner of the Matchroom League.
• Is defeated in the final at Charity Challenge and Masters.
• At the World Championship in Sheffield, he established a new maximum break record: 147 in just 5 minutes and 20 seconds (during his match against Mick Price), collecting a £165000 prize for this achievement, but loses in the deciding frame in the next round to Darren Morgan
• He is ranked 7th.
1997/1998:
• Wins his second UK title and the Scottish Open.
• Reaches the semi-finals of the Embassy.
• At Benson & Hedges Masters he defeats Ken Doherty in the final, but gets disqualified after failing drug test (tested positive for cannabis) and has to return the £61000 prize money.
• From the Far East he returns as winner of the Riley Superstars International .
• Back to third in rankings
• Together with Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams form “The Big Four”.
1998/1999:
• Wins the Scottish Masters.
• Loses in the semis at the World Championship and in the final at Charity Challenge.
• After a poor season, he is talking about giving up the game.
1999/2000:
• Obtains both China International and Scottish Open titles, but loses in opening match at the Crucible.
• On the non-ranking circuit, the Champions Cup has replaced the Charity Challenge – for Ronnie the result is the same: runner-up.
• Retains his 4th spot in the rankings.
• Helps England capture the Nations Cup.
2000/2001:
• Wins the Champions Cup and the Regal Masters in Motherwell.
• Mark Williams defeats him in the final of the Grand Prix.
• In the UK makes it only to the semis, but retains the China International title, as well as the Irish Masters and Premier League ones.
• Wins the final of the World Championship at the Crucible against John Higgins 18-14.
• Wins 6 titles this season and prize money of over £2,750,000.
• Becomes number 1 in rankings.
2001/2002:
• Gets to the semi-finals of the British Open.
• Makes his 5th maximum break in the new LG Cup.
• Wins his third UK title.
• At the World Championship he loses in semis to Stephen Hendry.
• Rounds off the season with a third Premier League title.
2002/2003:
• Wins the Regal Scottish Masters in Glasgow (2002), but also the European Open (2003) and the Citywest Irish Masters (2003).
• Loses 10-6 against Marco Fu at the Crucible, but scores the second fastest maximum break with a time of 6 minutes and 30 seconds.
2003/2004:
• Defeats Steve Davis 9-8 in the final of the Welsh Open in Cardiff.
• Wins the Grand Prix title.
• After defeating Stephen Maguire (10-6), Andy Hicks (13-11), Anthony Hamilton (13-3), Stephen Hendry (17-4) in semi-final and Graeme Dott in the final with 18-8, Ronnie takes home the World Championship title for the second time.
“I never thought I was going to lose. In fact I thought I was going to win it before I came to Sheffield,” said the Chigwell man after lifting the trophy and a cheque for £250,000. “I had rehearsed it in my mind and I was convinced about what would happen. I’d like to win more world titles, possibly four or five. You’ve got to set yourself high targets to stay motivated.”
He proved his remarkable ambidextrous ability throughout the tournament, frequently playing shots left-handed. “It balances me and re-energizes my body,” he said. “I’m going to practice more left-handed this summer because I might even play a whole season that way. I’m not sure I could win a tournament but I could definitely be top 16. It makes me feel rock-solid like Mark Williams.”
He also paid tribute to his new mentor, six-time champion Ray Reardon, having forged a partnership with the Welshman on the advice of dad Ronnie senior. “I’m more excited about working with Ray than I am about winning the world title,” he added. “Thanks to him I feel I can just get better and better.”
• Loses against Stephen Hendry in the final of the British Open in Brighton.
• Collects the inaugural LG Electronics Tour Order of Merit title and a £50000 bonus.
• Wins against Alan McManus, Ken Doherty and Jimmy White, but loses 10-9 to Paul Hunter in the Masters final.
Winning 30 titles in all (from 41 finals), his most important being the 2001 Embassy World Championship and the 2004 Embassy World Championship, Ronnie O’Sullivan keeps to amaze an entire snooker world with his natural talent.
He recorded the fastest ever maximum 147 at the 1997 Embassy World Championship: 5 minutes 20 seconds. Also responsible for four other maximums in front of TV cameras, the last of them at the 2003 Embassy World Championship and previous to that at the 2001 LG Cup in Preston.
He became the youngest player, at the age of 17 years 11 months, to capture a world ranking event title by winning the 1993 UK Championship. O’Sullivan is also only the second player to have compiled more than 300 century breaks during their professional careers having overtaken Steve Davis to move into second place behind Stephen Hendry on the all-time list.
On retaining his China Open title at Shenzhen in December 2000 joined Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, John Higgins, John Parrott, James Wattana and Mark Williams as the only players who have successfully defended a world ranking title. He is also one of only five players to win both the Embassy World and UK Championships in the same year (2001).
Equals Hendry’s record of three Regal titles by winning the 2002 Regal Masters in Glasgow. The 2003 Irish Masters provides O’Sullivan with his 28th major title from the 36 finals he has played in.
No wonder that Peter Ebdon compared him with Mozart!
Continuation:
2004/2005:
· Won title the totesport Grand Prix, when he beated Ian McCulloch 9-5
· Failed in semis of the British Open with Stephen Maquire 1-6 and the same player knocked him out in the second round of the UK Championship 6-9
· Ronnie beated Stephen Hendry 9-8 in final of the Welsh Open
· Lost with Graeme Dott in the second round of the Malta Cup 0-5
· Collected title the Rileys Club Masters, when he had beated John Higgings 10-3
· Beated Matthew Stevens 10-8 at the Irish Masters
· Lost in quarter-final of the Embassy World Championship with Peter Ebdon 13-11
· Ronnie stayed world No. 1
2005/2006
· Lost his open match at the new tournament Northern Ireland Trophy, which was organized already in August, with wild card Joe Swail 4-2
· At the Grand Prix 2005 he went smoothly up to final, where had been stopped by unbelievable John Higgins 9-2
· At the renewed tournament Pot Black Cup was Ronnie beated just in the first round by Paul Hunter
· In the final of the Betfred Premier League he beated Stephen Hendry 6-0 and won the fifth title of PL for his 30 birthday
· He went down his opening match on the UK Championship with Mark King 8-9
· In the final of the Masters he failed in final-frame decider with John Higgins with score 60-64
· On his first pool tournament in Holland Open Weert 9-ball Championship he failed only in final with Mika Immonen
· On the Welsh Open 2006 he failed his opening match with Ian McCulloch, may be due to injury of the right wrist, which he had in bandage for whole of the match, but he refused to confirm it
· 17 February at 3 am gave his girlfriend Jo birth to his second daughter Lilly Jo. The first daughter - Taylor - he has from previous relationship.
· On the China Open he lost his opening match with James Wattana 0-5
· On the World Championship Ronnie failed to win in semifinal with Graeme Dott 11-17 and lost the post of the world No. 1
· He participates in several pool tournaments during summer break. In Holland on the World Pool Masters 2006 failed in the first round with Wu Chia-ching
· On the first event of the IPT Tour - IPT North American Open 8-Ball Championship he reached top 60 player (from 200)
2006/2007:
· Ronnie failed on the first ranking event of the new season the Northern Ireland Trophy in final match with Ding Junhui 6-9. He started new season on the 12 post of provisional ranking and this success moved him up on the eighth post.
· He failed on the second ranking event the Royal Watches Grand Prix in quaterfinal with Neil Robertson.
· He beats Jimmy White in the final match of the Betfred Premier League 7-0 and gains third consecutive title - hattrick.
· Ronnie conceded match at 4-1 down in the quaterfinal of the Maplin UK Championship against Stephen Hendry - disciplinary board decided to take him away 900 ranking points and penalty almost 21 000 pounds
· Ronnie won Masters 2007 in January, he defeated Ding Junhui in final match 10-3
· One week later he failed in his first match at the Malta Cup against Michael Holt 5-3
· He went down in the quaterfinal of the Welsh Open with Neil Robertson 4-5
· He wins at the new tournament the Kilkenny Masters over Barry Hawkins 9-1 and more in the quaterfinal with Joe Swail he hit maximum break, but it wasn't accepted like official, cause it wasn't made on official table with template pockets
· He fails at the semi final of the China Open with Graeme Dott 2-6
· Ronnie fails at the World Championship in quaterfinal with John Higgins 9-13, he will be world No. 5 for the next season
· 12 June 2007 was born son of Ronnie and Jo named Ronnie Jnr., shortly RJ
2007/2008:
* He withdrew from the first ranking event of the new season the Shanghai Masters due to back injury
* He lost in final of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix with Marco Fu 6-9
* He lost in quaterfinal of the Northern Ireland Trophy with Fergal O'Brien 2-5, but at the same time he hit his seventh 147 break at this event and set new record - 5 centuries in match for five winning frames (best of 9)
*Ronnie for seven times and four times consecutive wins the Premier League (John Higgins - 7-4)
* Ronnie wins the UK Championship over Stephen Maguire 10-2 and returns to the top of the provisional ranking
* Ronnie lost his first match with Stephen Maguire at the Masters 5-6
* he doesn't participate in invitational the Malta Cup
* he lost in the Welsh Open final match with Mark Selby 8-9
* he failed in first round of the China Open with Marco Fu 4-5, he made a lewd comments at the press conference and therefore he has problems with disciplinary board of the World Snooker Association
* he won his third World title, takes post of World number one and hits his ninth maximum break.
2008/2009:
* Ronnie wins the first ranking tournament in the season - the Northern Ireland Trophy
* Ronnie fails in final match of the Shanghai Masters with Ricky Walden 8-10
* Ronnie lost his the Grand Prix quaterfinal match against Judd Trump 4-5
* he withdraw the Bahrain Snooker Championship
* Ronnie with Neil Robertson visited Prague for the first time thanks to exhibition the Battle of the Kings, Ronnie lost 4-6
* Ronnie for eight times and for five times in a row wins the Premier League (Mark Selby - 7-2)
* he lost in the second round of the UK Championship 5-9 against Joe Perry
* he wins Masters 2009 - Ronnie beats Mark Selby 10-8 - it's his fourth Masters title, he broke record of Stphen Hendry in number of centuries at the Masters - new one is 43
* Ronnie lost in the second round of the Welsh Open against Marco Fu
* he lost at the China Open in the quaterfinal with John Higgins
* Ronnie lost in the second round of the World Championship with Mark Allen 11-13
2009/2010:
* Wins final match at the Shanghai Masters over Liang Wenbo 10-5
* Lost the secon round match of the Grand Prix with John Higgins 4-5
* He lost the final match of the Premier League with Shaun Murphy 3-7
* He lost semifinal match of the UK Championship with John Higgins 8-9
* He was eliminated from the Championship Snooker League just during his first performance in Group 2, when he finished on the last place
* He lost final match at the Masters with Mark Selby 9-10
* He lost semifinal match at the Welsh Open against John Higgins 4-6
* He lost just his first match at the China Open against Tian Pengfei 3-5 after stupid mistake on the last black
* He lost his quaterfinal match at the World Championship against Mark Selby 11-13
2010/2011:
2011/2012:
* he won event one of the PTC over Joe Perry 4-0
* he lost at the PTC 2 in quarter final with Fergal O'Brien 3-4
* he lost at the PTC 3 in the second round with Graeme Dott 1-4
* he hits his 11th maximum break but lost with Mark Selby 3-4 in semi-final of the PTC 4 - Paul Hunter Classic
* he lost at the Shanghai Masters second round with Anthony Hamilton 3-5
* he lost at the PTC 5 second round with Peter Lines 2-4 and didn't participate at the PTC 6
* he won the PTC 7
* he lost at the PTC 8 second round with Xiao Guodong 1-4
* he wins his tenth Premier League title, 7th in a row
* he lost at the PTC 9 final match with Judd Trump 3-4
* he lost at the Power Snooker final match with Martin Gould 258-286
* he lost at the UK Championship second round with Judd Trump 5-6
* he lost at the PTC 10 first round with Sam Baird 2-4 and missing PTC 11 and 12
* he won at the German Masters and saved his top 16 place
* he lost at the Welsh Open semi-final with Mark Selby 2-6
* he withdraw from the World Open and PTC Final due to health problems
* he won the World Championship for the fourth time :-), he beat Ali Carter 18-11 in the final match
2012/2013:
* he takes a break from snooker
* he defended his world title and won final over Barry Hawkins 18-12 - he earned his fifth world title
2013/14
* he lost quarterfinal of the ET1 - Bulgarian Open with Mark Williams
* he lost at the International Championship second round match with Liang Wenbo
* he lost at the third round of the ET3 - Bluebell Wood Open with Peter Lines
* he won at the ET4 - Paul Hunter Classic, when he beated Gerard Greeme 4-0
* he lost at the second round of the ET5 - Ruhr Open with Ben Woollaston
* he lost at the third round of the ET6 - Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup with Neil Robertson
* he lost at the final ET7 - Antwerp Open match with Mark Selby
* he won title at the event Champion of Champions, when he beated Stuart Bingham 10-8 at the final match
* he lost at quarter final UK Championship match with Stuart Bingham 4-6
* he won the Masters when beat Mark Selby in final match 10-4
* he won the BetVictor Welsh Open, where beat Ding Junhui 9-3 and played 147 for twelve times
* he failed at the second round of the PTC Finals with Yu DeLu 3-4
* he failed at the World Championship final match with Mark Selby 14-18
2014/15
* he lost at the Paul Hunter Classic with Tian Pengfei 4-2
* he lost at the first round of the Shanghai Masters with Alan McManus 3-5
* he lost at the quarterfinal of the International Championship with Mark Williams 5-6
* he won the Champion of Champions, when he defeated Judda Trumpa 10-7 at the final match
* he won at the UK Championship, when he defeated Judd Trump 10-9 at the final match
* he lost at the Masters semifinal 1-6 with Neil Robertson
* he lost at the quarter final German Masters match with Shaun Murphy 4-5
* he lost at the Welsh Open third round with Matthew Stevens 3-4
* he lost at the World Championship quarterfinal with Stuart Bingham 9-13