Ronnie O’Sullivan would retire immediately if snooker introduced one rule change

Ronnie O’Sullivan joked he would immediately retire from snooker if the game decided to take a leaf out of darts’ book.

The 49-year-old is snooker’s most decorated player in history having won 41 ranking titles.

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A seven-time world champion, O’Sullivan has also scooped a record eight Masters titles along with as many UK Championships.

He is yet to win a tournament in the 2024/25 season, having withdrawn from eight events – most recently the Welsh Open.

The mysterious string of absences has led to questions over his future in the sport.

Back in September, the ever-charismatic O’Sullivan joined the talkSPORT Breakfast Show and admitted he will quit in an instant if snooker introduces walk-on music.

O’Sullivan was asked whether snooker needs ‘jazzing up’ to attract a younger audience.

Co-host Natalie Sawyer questioned whether the game needs to follow darts’ suit and have players walk to the table with their own music.

Not having it, O’Sullivan joked: “I’d probably definitely retire!

“I’d be like, ‘You know what? I’m out of here now’.”

Nevertheless, O’Sullivan did acknowledge that the UK has a problem with youngsters getting involved in snooker, compared to overseas.

He said: “In the UK it is an older crowd, but in China and Saudi Arabia, they have a very young crowd watching it, I don’t know why that is.

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“I think it’s always been that in the UK, a lot of the older people just love snooker, but I don’t know why that is, I really don’t have a clue.

“I think when snooker is up against football and tennis and golf, when you’re a parent, you’re looking at, ‘What shall I get my kid involved in?’

“Snooker is going to come really down at the bottom of the list I would imagine.”

Like darts and Ally Pally, snooker has its own spiritual home at The Crucible in Sheffield.

However, there have been some suggestions from Matchroom chief Barry Hearn that the World Championships could be moved to Saudi Arabia.

When asked about that, O’Sullivan said: “I like playing in China and in Saudi Arabia.

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“I would probably be spending more time playing in those events and doing exhibitions and stuff out there.

“I just like being out there, so any excuse to get me out there… I spend most of my time there as I can.”

Unlike in many professionals sports, where athletes tend to retire in their late 30s, there is no set age for when snooker players call it quits.

O’Sullivan became the oldest World Championship winner in 2022 at the age of 46 – two years after his previous triumph at the Crucible.

Meanwhile Mark Williams was 43 when he emerged victorious in the 2018 final – 15 years after his second world title crown.

And O’Sullivan declared that success as players get older depends entirely on whether you still have love for the game.

He said: “It depends where you’re at with it, Stephen Hendry [seven-time world champion], he was such a winner, that when he wasn’t winning, he found it really difficult.

“I think Steve Davis was the same, Jimmy White seemed to be like, ‘I don’t really care about winning or losing, I just love the game.’

“So if you love the sport then obviously [you can keep playing], but if it’s important to you that you’re winning and competing at the top end of the game, as you get older, inevitably these youngsters come along and they’re really fantastic players.

“So it’s hard for some of the older established players to keep going in many ways because these youngsters are very, very good.”