Ronnie O'Sullivan has traded his 'bad boy' of snooker persona for a far more relaxed, reserved demeanor these days, and has now positioned himself as a role-model for the sports' younger players.
The five-time World Championship winner sat down with Off The Ball's Shane Hannon to talk all thing snooker, and O'Sullivan said that at point in time he may have fallen out of love with the game that's far from the case now, having rediscovered his passion for it over half-a-decade ago now.
"I love it, I love it. I've been pretty much loving it for the last six years. I've been playing some good consistent stuff, which enables you to relax and enjoy it, and you can attack the balls more. I'm not a defensive player, I don't ever want to be a 'nick and run' type player. I had a couple of years where I had to play that way because I had no long game and stuff like that, but actually when you're feeling confident you can really attack the balls and dominate matches.
"That's how I like to play so yeah, I've been feeling pretty good and I'm hopeful that over the next five or ten years I can still compete and hopefully get another world title".
Now incorporating a more holistic approach to his game, O'Sullivan says he's more concerned with his mental game and physical fitness than simply potting balls day-in, day-out, something he believes other players on tour haven't quite come around to to just yet.
"You've got to look at yourself like a Formula One car. If one component isn't right then it's going to affect every other thing. I think for for most of the guys on the tour, potting and making breaks, we all know we can do that. So you have to look at the other areas in your life, which is your mind, your body, and just being in peak condition to be able to perform at the highest level".
One of the changes to O'Sullivan's game involves spending time away from the noise of the media and public life, which he does on his barge that's docked in Sheffield. While he doesn't sleep on the boat, though he did spend a number of months living on one in London, he believes it's a great way to escape from the world and find a way to relax while he's playing at the Crucible for the World Championships, or just spending time in Sheffield.
"Life on the barge is pretty good really. I cook on there, I relax on there, I don't actually sleep on there, I've a hotel room which is just across the road but I just use it as a space to go".
"Hotel rooms can get a bit lonely, so I try to create a home away from home wherever I go, so a bit of home-cooking, just sit down and put your feet up, make a cup of tea. Little things like that make travelling a little bit easier, and I'm a bit of a home person really so I try to create that environment wherever I go. I leave the barge here in Sheffield, so whenever I get to come up here I get that home away from home type feeling".
When asked about the next generation of potential future world champions, the likes of Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson, O'Sullivan praised their talent but noted that talent alone doesn't win titles, and that until you've actually won the world championship it is still just potential.
"I don't think anyone's got a right to win the World Championship. I think everyone comes into this tournament, like this year there was 10 or 12 players that you think could do it, but they just seem to fall short sometimes. Until someone actually wins it, it's difficult to say they're going to win it".
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