Ronnie O'Sullivan is treating Sheffield 'like a holiday' as he prepares for World Snooker Championship
Ronnie O'Sullivan has opened up a bespoke shop in the nearby Meadowhall shopping centre selling snooker memorabilia and clothing, among other items; 'The Rocket' intends to spend his time there as well as on his running routes, saying: "It's just like a holiday"
By PA Media
Last Updated: 16/04/21 8:35pm
Ronnie O'Sullivan insists he could not care less about the prospect of equalling Stephen Hendry's record of seven Crucible crowns as he prepares to begin the defence of his world snooker title.
In a sign the 45-year-old might be falling out of love with the game again, he went on to admit he would prefer to adopt a non-playing role in the tournament and described how he would treat his time in Sheffield as a "holiday".
O'Sullivan said: "Winning the world championship has always seemed an anticlimax to me, the same as walking out as defending champion. It is what it is, it either floats your boat or it doesn't.
"I wish I shared your excitement about going for my seventh [title], but I don't. It suits my lifestyle, and playing snooker is probably the one part of it that I like the least.
"If I could not play, that would be great, and I could just take the other benefits of snooker, but I suppose you're never going to love 100 per cent of what you do, so I just have to suck it up and get through some of the playing parts."
- Kyren Wilson set for Crucible slog as he bids to return to final
- Full capacity at Crucible for World Snooker final
- Ronnie O'Sullivan: Genius of the baize
World Snooker Championship Draw:
Ronnie O’Sullivan (1) vs Mark Joyce
Anthony McGill (16) vs Ricky Walden
Ding Junhui (9) vs Stuart Bingham
Stephen Maguire (8) vs Jamie Jones
-------------------------------------------
John Higgins (5) vs Tian Pengfei
Mark Williams (12) vs Sam Craigie
Mark Allen (13) vs Lyu Haotian
Mark Selby (4) vs Kurt Maflin
-------------------------------------------
Neil Robertson (3) vs Liang Wenbo
Jack Lisowski (14) vs Ali Carter
Barry Hawkins (11) vs Matthew Selt
Kyren Wilson (6) vs Gary Wilson
-------------------------------------------
Shaun Murphy (7) vs Mark Davis
Yan Bingtao (10) vs Martin Gould
David Gilbert (15) vs Chris Wakelin
Judd Trump (2) vs Liam Highfield
O'Sullivan soared to his sixth title late last year but has had a frustrating season by his own unprecedented standards, losing all five finals in which he has played including thumping defeats by Neil Robertson and John Higgins.
While his easy final win over Kyren Wilson remains fresh in the mind, thoughts also inevitably drift back to the last time he faced a debutant in the draw, and was stunned by James Cahill the previous year.
Recalling his own first appearance in the tournament as a 17-year-old in 1993, when he lost to Alan McManus, O'Sullivan added: "When I first came here I found it quite strange, because you build up going to the Crucible and I didn't perform that great - I don't know why."
O'Sullivan blamed a "low boredom threshold" for his dislike of the 17-day slog in Sheffield, but having opened a bespoke shop in the nearby Meadowhall shopping centre earlier this month, he is bound to have plenty to occupy himself for the duration of his stay.
"I'm just here to enjoy it," added O'Sullivan. "If I wasn't to do well in the tournament it's not the end of the world. I've got the shop and I've got some great running routes and it's just like a holiday.
"I've just got to go and hit a few balls - I'd rather not, but that is part of the job I suppose. It's always a grind here, and sometimes the earlier it's over the better."
For those on the move, we will have the Snooker & Pool season covered via our website skysports.com/more-sports, our app for mobile devices, or our Twitter account @skysportspool for latest news and reports.