13 March 1991. The world watched in stunned silence as a 15 year old boy came from nowhere and became the youngest player to score a 147 in professional Snooker. A prodigy had arrived. The same child has gone on to become the greatest player the game has ever witnessed.

Nobody in their right senses would describe the game of snooker as easy, but the moment Ronnie ‘Rocket’ O’Sullivan begins to flow, this great player makes everything in the game look so natural. To witness him line up a shot makes us think whether we could pot that particular ball. And when we watch the strike ball hit the coloured ones one after the other with lightning quick efficiency, all settling into their pockets, and the cue ball already magically drifting to the spot where the next shot is lined up with same easy clarity, we realise that this is the handiwork of no ordinary player. The process keeps getting repeated, until the greatest snooker player in history has finished potting away all 36 balls that make up a completed frame of snooker. This sort of game, sense of placement, style of playing and concise potting of the balls was something that we as audience had not witnessed anything like. That was, until Lord O’ Sullivan heralded his arrival.

They call him ‘The Rocket’ due to the speed with which he plays. He is nothing less than an artist, and watching him in action is like watching the smooth flow of a silently flowing river, that looks serene and calm on the outside, but has the capacity to unleash carnage within. Having won 74 percent of his matches over a career spanning 26 years and counting, O’Sullivan has the highest ever winning percentage of any professional snooker player. he is also holding the record of quickest maximum break that is 5 minutes and 20 seconds in first round of 1997 World Championship, he is five times world champion, his earnings as GBP 1,02,19,665.

It is his sheer persona that keeps O’Sullivan the crowd’s favourite wherever he plays. At age 43, O’Sullivan is still the most popular figure in the sport from London to Shanghai and that too by a big margin. Like fine wine, Ronnie appears to be getting better and crucially more consistent with age.

He’s now moved onto 33 ranking titles. His popularity, as well as fan following has seen only a positive upward trend. Even after losing nine tournaments for every tournament that he has won, bookies make him the favourite in almost every match. His artistry can also be cited as one of the problems with Ronnie’s game. The intense thinking that he puts into his game sometimes ends up with him trying a truly impossible shot. More often than not, he gets away with it. When he does not, there is no frustration or irritation on his face. Just a wry smile, a shake of the head, and off he goes, planning to create a new miracle.

Whatever the story might be, but the fact remains that The Rocket has had a super successful career, and his 33 career tournament victories over 26 years of professional play put him at second from the start of the modern record keeping system in the 1970s. The first place is held by Stephen Hendry, with 36 wins. It is, however, a much agreed upon discussion that Ronnie would break this record as splendidly as he did the rest.

Ronnie O’Sullivan also leads in terms of prize money after winning some £9 million in competitions, apart from millions more that he has earned from exhibition matches, advertisements and endorsements as well as celebrity appearance fees.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has always shown his transcendental ability through his game which is arguably the best that the beautiful game of snooker has ever seen. He has always demonstrated his petulance, his own quirky charm, his oddball humour, and morbid depression at each failure to play consistently at an impossible level of perfection. We are truly lucky to have seen him play the best game of snooker and like Rocket says, we will see him play until he says that it is time to stop.

Birthday special

Watch the First 147 break video of Ronnie O’Sullivan here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jspho4U8vgk

Watch the Fastest 147 break video of Ronnie O’Sullivan here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpeBugHSCnU