(2007 Crucible) Ray Reardon talks about Ronnie O'Sullivan
As Ronnie O'Sullivan prepares for his first-round match against Ding Junhui in the 2007 World Championships in Sheffield, Eurosport hears the Rocket's story from mentor and six-times world champion Ray Reardon.
Reardon, speaking at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield on the eve of O'Sullivan's quest for a third world title, spoke of the day in 2004 the player's dad Ronald John - serving life in prison for murder - called him to ask for help to keep his son on the rails.
"I was at home when the phone rang. It was Ronnie's dad. He said: 'I've got a question for you. Should my son be winning more trophies a year? Can you help him?'
"I replied that I'd have to meet him and find out if we got on or not.
"I met him here in Sheffield and we got on really well.
"I had to do it: it was a phone call about the best player around - as far as I'm concerned, ever."
O'Sullivan has a reputation for blistering pace. He holds the record for the fastest recorded 147 maximum break, clearing the table against Mick Price in five minutes and 20 seconds at the 1997 Worlds.
However Reardon had a different approach to help him achieve his potential - and it paid off when he won the 2004 tournament, his second triumph in South Yorkshire.
"His defensive play was a bit suspect; we worked on that. He wasn't very happy about it! We put in a lot of work morning, afternoon, even at two in the morning! You can't get him off the table.
"He eventually liked the defensive side of the game. He didn't think he would.
"There is safety and professional safety - there are degrees of it. It was there inside him - I just needed to unlock it.
"He was too good a player to waste that talent. I made him impregnable - although he should still be winning more tournaments."
The man known in his seventies heydey as Dracula - although he has now had his famous incisors removed - puts Ronnie up there with the greats of snooker history.
"There have been many great players - most recently Alex Higgins, Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor. Then along came the whiz-kid.
"I told him: you're not the 'Rocket': you're the 'Magician'. You are wonderful, you are going to do the business."
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Eurosport - Matthew Syed - 22/04/2007 13:39
posted by MRK | 23.4.07
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