OnlineSnooker

BORN 5th December 1975
BIRTHPLACE Chigwell, England
TURNED PRO 1992
EARNINGS 00/01 Ł682,501
RANKING 2
HIGHEST RANKING 2

Achievements

2001 - Embassy World Championship
1993 - Liverpool Victoria UK Championship
1994 - British Open
1995 - B&H Masters
1996 - Asian Classic
1998, 2000 - Regal Masters
1998 - Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge
1999, 2000 - China Open
2001 - Citywest Irish Masters
1998, 2000 - Regal Scottish Open
2000 - TSN Champions Cup
2001 - Matchroom Premier League

Biography
The climax of the 2001 world championship finally proved what everyone in snooker had known for a long time - Ronnie O'Sullivan is one of the most talented players ever to grace the game.

In 1991, aged just 15 years and 97 days Ronnie O'Sullivan potted out a warning to the whole of the snooker world, when he became the youngest player to compile a recognised maximum break, during the English Amateur Championship and in the same year he captured the IBSF's World Junior title.

When he turned professional in 1992, he won 38 successive matches in qualifying for ranking events and compiled the highest number of centuries by a player in his debut season (30).

The records piled up as Ronnie won the 1993 UK Championship, aged 17 years 11 months, to supersede Stephen Hendry as the youngest winner of a ranking tournament.

When only 19 he earned Ł285,101 prize money, more than any other teenager has managed in a single season.

In 1997 he recorded the fastest 147 in history during the Embassy World Championship. His opponent Mick Price didn't have time to blink, as Ronnie whistled the balls into the pockets in just 320 seconds. The break was worth Ł165,000 for clearing the 36 balls, which was an earning level of Ł515.62 per second!

The 1998/99 season was something of a rollercoaster ride for O'Sullivan and his fans. It started well enough with a win in the Regal Masters, but at the beginning of the UK Championship he sensationally announced that he was not defending his title. Having missed a couple of events through nervous exhaustion, he returned at the Irish Open, but failed to make an impact.

His season improved at the turn of the year. Although he had to play with a splint on a broken finger on his right hand at the Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge, he reached the final. At the Regal Welsh, he compiled a spectacular maximum against James Wattana, before folding rather tamely to Mark Williams in their semi-final. When the action moved to The Crucible, O'Sullivan was involved in one of the greatest matches of the 1990s in his semi-final against Stephen Hendry, and almost made another 147, failing on a tricky shot on the pink.

In the 1999/2000 season, O'Sullivan claimed two individual titles, the 1999 China Open - in which he brushed Stephen Lee aside 9-2 in the final - and the 2000 Regal Scottish in which he inflicted a similar hammering on Mark Williams. He became the third player to record two 147s in the same season, one at the Grand Prix, and one at the Regal Scottish.

In January 2000 O'Sullivan bonded very successfully with team mates John Parrott, Jimmy White and Stephen Lee to win the Nations Cup for England, boasting the best record of any player, 13 wins from 15 frames played.

The season ended on a low, as Ronnie was beaten 10-9 by fellow Londoner David Gray in the first round of the Embassy World Championship, despite making five centuries in the match.

Last season was still not a straightforward one for O'Sullivan, but he managed to garner more titles than anyone else. Between August and March, he claimed the Champions Cup, Regal Masters, China Open and Citywest Irish Masters titles. Although a back injury ruled him out of much of the Nations Cup - and he also withdrew from the Malta Grand Prix invitation event - his 9-8 win over Stephen Hendry in Ireland showed he was back on form. But he saved the best for last as he claimed his first world title beating John Higgins 18-14 in the final. Many observers still believe that the best of O'Sullivan is yet to come, and with the pressure to win a world title now lifted, next season could be an exciting one for him.

Away from the table Ronnie supports North London football team Spurs, but also spends a good deal of his time on his fitness workouts as well as learning to cook. Ronnie is very close to his family, especially mum Maria who joined his celebrations in the arena at The Crucible along with Ronnie's girlfriend Bianca.