On May 12, 2023, Beijing time, world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan admitted that he lost years of his career due to alcohol and drug problems. The 47-year-old top snooker fighter was defeated in the quarter-final of this year's World Championships by eventual champion Luca Bressel, who entered a drug rehabilitation centre in 2000 after being stripped of his title of Irish Masters in 1998 after testing positive for cannabis. The snooker star describes how difficult it was to live cleanly and navigate social environments when he tried to change his lifestyle. O'Sullivan spoke to BBC reporters on the day his new book, Unbreakable, was released.
O'Sullivan missed years of career due to alcohol and drugs
On the day of the release of O'Sullivan's new book, Unbreakable, the seven-time world champion spoke to the BBC. O'Sullivan said: "There was a huge gap between then and now. I lost six or seven years to drinking and smoking marijuana, and for the next four years, my life didn't handle very well. I didn't focus on snooker. But I think everyone has these times when they don't deal well with life problems, and I really haven't done much for 10 years. I don't have much practice, I don't have room to win. When surrounded by a lot of people, I really just wanted to find a corner to hide. During that time, I lost my personality and confidence, and had to take medication to feel like a normal person so that I could socialize and live a normal life. ”
O'Sullivan's family upheavals left him feeling lost
Compared with many players, O'Sullivan's childhood was not bad, even better than most people. He has excellent talent, the guidance of famous teachers all over the world, and the support of a good family environment. Shortly after officially becoming a professional snooker player, he won the British Championship, became famous at a young age, was born with talent, and was selected as an excellent player by the World Federation at the age of 19, and everything seemed to be going well. But then his life changed dramatically. O'Sullivan's father was arrested and jailed for homicide, his mother was sentenced to a year in prison for tax evasion, and his sister spent her days dealing with drugs. O'Sullivan, who lost the protection of his parents, felt very helpless, he was confused, and he did not know how to vent his bitterness, and chose to use alcohol and marijuana to numb himself. This life also brought him great disaster, and in the following years, he performed poorly, and he went from a genius to a villain in the arena.
O'Sullivan came out of the darkness and finally completed his self-redemption
During the years he spent in the troll, O'Sullivan tested positive for cannabis after winning the 1998 Irish Masters and was simply dismissed from the title. After a year, O'Sullivan gradually began to wake up and ushered in a new career in 1999. However, such a life is not enough to make O'Sullivan feel safe. When the year 2000 turned on, O'Sullivan thought twice about entering the detoxification rehabilitation center and officially began his detoxification journey. It was also here that O'Sullivan started his long-distance running training, and after insisting on long-distance running every day, O'Sullivan gradually fell in love with the sport. So even now, O'Sullivan has maintained his love and persistence in the sport, and it is a new start for his career. It is precisely because of his detoxification and self-discipline that O'Sullivan has begun a new harvest season for the title. And he has also come out of his old alcohol and drug dependence, and now O'Sullivan has been able to drink less and do not stick to drugs. When he came out of the darkness of the past, O'Sullivan said he cherished his current life.