Snooker lasagna is not enough: O’Sullivan and his snooker vision
Ronnie O’Sullivan screams as Topfavorit. Photo
© Zac Goodwin/PA Wire/dpa
Saudi Arabia? China? If Ronnie O’Sullivan has his way, the world association could change the World Cup venue immediately. The snooker genius is once again in the spotlight in Sheffield.
A Snooker World Cup in Riyadh or Shanghai? Just in time for the most important tournament of the year, Ronnie O’Sullivan has once again caused a stir and sparked a controversial debate. Because if the seven-time title holder has his way, the World Cup will no longer take place in Sheffield in the future. “The Rocket,” as O’Sullivan is known, has had enough of the venerable Crucible Theater, where the tournament has been based since 1977. “Here you might get a good tea or a lasagne if there’s cooking. But that’s it,” complained O’Sullivan.
O’Sullivan’s main criticisms are the limited space and infrastructure. There are only 980 seats for spectators in the Crucible Theater. “It’s a huge circus and you need a huge amount of space to accommodate it,” said O’Sullivan, who also tackled Sheffield’s parking, transport system and logistics in his billing in The Sun tabloid. “You don’t want any of that,” O’Sullivan said. And all of these circumstances do not exist in other locations, such as China.
“Saudi Arabia would be great”
The Crucible is as symbolic of the sport of snooker as London’s Alexandra Palace is of darts or Wembley Stadium is of football. The 48-year-old Englishman already has host alternatives in mind. “I think Saudi Arabia would be great. They have the resources and would do it great. If you want to give it to China, you would have to take it to Shanghai. Or another big city like Shenzhen or Guangzhou.”
China has been an integral part of the snooker tour for years, many top professionals in the elite are from China. Saudi Arabia hosted the World Masters of Snooker in March, which O’Sullivan won. The desert state is also becoming increasingly involved in other sports such as golf, tennis or Formula 1. Saudi Arabia is the only remaining applicant for the 2034 World Cup.
Today that one, tomorrow another one
It is not the first time that the most successful snooker player in recent memory has caused controversy. Rolf Kalb, who has been commentating on snooker tournaments for Eurosport for decades, also knows this. “With Ronnie O’Sullivan, you never know which Ronnie O’Sullivan you’ll meet today. He’s the one today and he could be someone else tomorrow. It’s like that with him: When he says something, he’s convinced at that moment that that that’s right,” Kalb told the German Press Agency. “Whether he still has the same opinion tomorrow is a completely different matter.”
For Kalb himself, it probably no longer matters that much whether the game will be played in Sheffield, Guangzhou or Riyadh in the future. The 64-year-old will contest his last World Cup as a commentator at the tournament that starts on Saturday (until May 6th). The fact that before the start of the World Cup there is hardly any talk about the Belgian world champion Luca Brecel or the year’s best Judd Trump from England, but only about O’Sullivan – that should no longer surprise Kalb after all these years.
No desire for trophies
“In sport it’s always the case that it’s not the sweet, good boys who are loved, but rather those who are a bit of a cross-border and walk a fine line. That’s definitely the case with him, it fascinates people,” he described Calf. This season, O’Sullivan drew attention, among other things, when he cited an air fryer and a smoothie maker as recipes for success and proudly announced that he was giving away all of his trophies. “I don’t really care about trophies,” said the often-described genius.
O’Sullivan seems to be more interested in where the world’s most important snooker trophy will be awarded in the future as he hunts for his eighth world title. But why Saudi Arabia or China? “The hotels are great. And the prize money would be astronomical,” said O’Sullivan, who obviously only sees advantages in these markets. A total of around 2.8 million euros will be distributed at this year’s World Cup. The winner will receive around 585,000 euros (500,000 pounds).
dpa
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