TSB - Ronnie O’Sullivan withdraws stating medical reasons

[Littlesense]

Theres no doubt at all that Ronnie is magic around the table at times and im afraid that there are many people who only watch snooker because of him and to prove it take note of the viewing numbers when he gets knocked out of a Tournament.

I myself can only watch a certain number of players as many dont interest me at all as their standards are fairly poor and they have very little flair in their game.

I cant sit and watch some match that takes 6 hours to complete most of all when its a final and it ends up being a hard going slog at 1.30am on a monday morning.

If Ferret you have been given the correct details of why he cant make it by one of his so called friends then i think youd still be able to understand the reasons why he hasnt gone, His had a very hard time of it over the last year and i think for a change within sport its nice to see someone put their family first for a change.

However Ronnies past behaviour lets himself down in these times, he is and can be a very strange charactor away from the table and sometimes we get a glimpse of this on TV.
He is a very hard person to understand sometimes who doesnt behave in a way that most of us would but at the end of the day his a one off who gets people talking, gets people interested in the sport and really in the grand plan of things wont be here for ever but will be talked about for as long as the game lives, we arnt going to change his ways by talking about it so we might as well apreciate him when he turns up.

You dont see many topics about all the other players who have failed to go to the Players Tour matches but they wont be missed in 30 years any way.

[Giggity1984]

Higgins has pulled out cos Family comes first too.

[Neville Baguley]

Give the man a break.........

it seems that in this country we set someone up on a pedestal only to knock them down when the fancy takes us. RoS is as human as the rest of us but with a slight difference, he is a genius at his chosen sport. Think of any genius you like in any field and you will see a person who lives life on the edge in many ways.

It seems that Ronnie is putting family first (good for him). Personally I can forgive the man for being unpredictable at times if he can entertain me with a 147 break in 5 min 20 secs, I never tire of seeing it.

[jamesa54321]

I don't think anyone has a problem with Ronnie putting his family first - the issue is him entering tournaments then not bothering to turn up or withdrawing at the last minute.

[cueman]

I don't think anyone has a problem with Ronnie putting his family first - the issue is him entering tournaments then not bothering to turn up or withdrawing at the last minute.

Its not just that though is it. The vast majority of players have families that I'm sure they'd like to spend more time with, however any successful sportsperson sometimes has to make some sacrifices if they want success. After all if they have dedicated a large part of their lives to a sport in order to compete at the highest level and enjoy success and earn millions surely a small sacrifice of being away from your family for a week or two every few months is hardly much of a sacrifice to make is it?

What about all the normal working class people that work a 40 hour week or more in a job they hate, travelling for hours and earning a pittance, I'm sure they would trade positions with Ronnie any day. The thing is its these people who are constantly let down by Ronnie and his moods. OK he is using the family as his excuse now but there have been plenty of occassions in the past when that hasn't been the case.

I do think people need to get a little perspective here. Nobody is asking him to play all the time but he should have a duty for the game when it needs everyone pulling together to make it a success. Fortunately this week it seems the german fans are delighted to have a big tournament being held there but this might not work in some other countries if he continues to avoid travelling when it suits him.

[pottingpinks]

A good sensible post cueman.
I notice Barry Hearn today is saying that Ronnie has lost hold of the flag he had so it seems he wont be the flag bearer for much longer (unless assurances are made that he will turn up).

I agree its all about the timing, its unacceptable to pull out 5 mins before the event starts (unless its something very serious), if he has an arrangement to see his kids he should state that at the start of the season rather than con everyone into thinking he will be there when that's not the case.

It does make me wonder whether he leaves himself in until the last minute according to his whim on the day just in case he fancies it, but thats not much use to anyone.

Where does medical reasons fit into wanting to see ones kids anyhow??

[Manvilla]

Ronnie

Ronnie is the most popular draw in snooker because he is the most talented player on the circuit.... if not the most talented player of all time. He does not appreciate how gifted he is and that is his biggest problem.


When he is interviewed he is extremely modest and anyone can see that the man does not believe he has as much talent as we all know he has. In the Snooker Shootout tournament last month he was interviewed by Rob Walker after getting 2 tons and a 90+ out of 4 frames and Ronnie almost got embarrassed by the fact that Rob was in awe of his accomplishment.

If O’Sullivan had a brain like Hendry or Davis who both embraced the gift that they had, he wouldn’t be doing this (pulling out of events). He doesn’t realise how brilliant he is and therefore he doesn’t understand the consequences of his actions.

He does not understand what the fuss is all about when he walks out of a tournament because he has no self-belief. In Ronnie’s world/mind he believes that his withdrawal would be equivalent to the withdrawal of Jack Lisowski, no disrespect meant to this up and coming young player but there wouldn’t be too many people talking about it.

[grimreaper]

Just sack the idiot such a waste of space::

[drlog147]

Higgins has pulled out cos Family comes first too.

believe john has more to worry himself about than ronnie with his family problems
plus what will happen next season if ronnie drop's out of the top sixteen sure joe johnson said a while ago on euro sport that hes down to 10 already can any of us see ronnie qualiflying !!!!

[João]

Ronnie is the most popular draw in snooker because he is the most talented player on the circuit.... if not the most talented player of all time. He does not appreciate how gifted he is and that is his biggest problem.


When he is interviewed he is extremely modest and anyone can see that the man does not believe he has as much talent as we all know he has. In the Snooker Shootout tournament last month he was interviewed by Rob Walker after getting 2 tons and a 90+ out of 4 frames and Ronnie almost got embarrassed by the fact that Rob was in awe of his accomplishment.

If O’Sullivan had a brain like Hendry or Davis who both embraced the gift that they had, he wouldn’t be doing this (pulling out of events). He doesn’t realise how brilliant he is and therefore he doesn’t understand the consequences of his actions.

He does not understand what the fuss is all about when he walks out of a tournament because he has no self-belief. In Ronnie’s world/mind he believes that his withdrawal would be equivalent to the withdrawal of Jack Lisowski, no disrespect meant to this up and coming young player but there wouldn’t be too many people talking about it.

The (pathetic) things you people make up to excuse his actions.

[beechy1212]

I think he knows exactly how good he is. Personally, i don't think he has much time for most interviewers, press etc and just says anything to either contradict or get out of there.

[montoya10]

Ronnie is still Ronnie, and love him or hate him, his role in promoting snooker is unquestionable, leaving the flag bearer debate out of equation, as it could due a change at anytime..

Honestly, it's too much for me to read so deeply into one's action and call for his head, especially considering his ill-wise mental health.

I don't suggest it's the right thing to withdraw hours before an event, but as long as Ronnie doesn't care, what can be done? Nothing. He doesn't care about the ranking points he gets docked, he doesn't care if he gets fined for pounds, and he will not care if you give him a life-time ban from snooker.

He continues to be a real draw for this sport, and he will continue to be so, just like Jimmy White and Alex Higgins..
And although I don't think snooker will die without Ronnie, it's surely not going to be as good as it has been with him. Note this down, young kids ( myself included ) growing up watching Ronnie and his generation play, will tell you the same, many years later..

[Manvilla]

The (pathetic) things you people make up to excuse his actions.

This is not an attempt to excuse his actions its my opinion of whats going on in Ronnies head and I would suggest its not too far off the mark.

[Gerry Armstrong]

I hope all the people who think snooker will die without ROS caught the snooker on Eurosport this evening. 2,500 capacity crowd to watch Dott, Selby, Williams and Fu.

I know people have their favourite players but going on this evidence it would seem "snooker" has more than enough fans who want to turn up and watch no matter who is playing, certainly in Germany.

Let's up hope this is a glimpse of the future for the game.

[DamienConnolly]

I hope all the people who think snooker will die without ROS caught the snooker on Eurosport this evening. 2,500 capacity crowd to watch Dott, Selby, Williams and Fu.

I know people have their favourite players but going on this evidence it would seem "snooker" has more than enough fans who want to turn up and watch no matter who is playing, certainly in Germany.

Let's up hope this is a glimpse of the future for the game.

Well said! some great stuff from MJW tonight. Crowd seemed to be really into it aswell!