RONNIE O'SULLIVAN PREVIEWS THE 2022 WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP

What is your most bizarre experience in snooker?
My most weird experience in snooker? Ah, probably when I walked out of the snooker match against Stephen Hendry. I think that was pretty weird. It didn't at the time, it felt pretty good because it just felt I don't actually want to be there. But actually, when I watch it back, I was like, wow, yeah, that kind of took everyone by surprise. So, I think that was a bit of a weird one, but there was a reason for it. I didn't just walk out because I didn't want to be there just playing snooker. I just had a lot of off the table things going on. And my mind wasn't focused in on the job. So yes, that was pretty weird.

How can players from other countries reach the highest level?
They definitely can. The important thing is, is that you if you're from Ireland, I remember there was a guy called Ken Doherty - and he was a very, very good amateur who was winning everything - but he had to come to base himself in the UK, because he knew every week there was competitions. Everybody was a very, very good player. And in Ireland, he never got these opportunities to develop his game.

So I think at some point, it doesn't matter where you come from you look at Neil Robertson, unbelievable player but would he have been the player he is today if you'd have stayed in Australia? Probably not. So you had to come to the UK, you had to learn his trade, you had to learn from the best players in the world and develop as a player, I think, as long as you're prepared to make that transition.

It doesn't matter where you come from you can always be a champion. If I was to say, right, I want to be the best runner in the world, I want to win the London Marathon, I would go and live in Kenya, I would go and live in Ethiopia, or go to live in Uganda and go, right, these are the guys that are doing the business, they must be doing something, right - I've just got to come here and find out what the secret is. And you start to develop their skills. Their skills start to rub off on you. So you have to be prepared to sort of make that transition if you like, it's not easy to do. So that would be my advice to any overseas player that wants to become a top player.

Would you invite Novak Djokovic for a game of snooker? Or would you accept an invitation from Djokovic to play tennis?
You have to admire Djokovic, he is going to go down as the greatest player of all time. We know he's going to win more Grand Slams than anybody else. There’s been Federer and Nadal and I think the three of them together have just been brilliant for the sport. As far as comparing myself to Djokovic, I think we're kind of different styles. I’m similar to Federer, a bit more artistic, a little less reliable, whereas Djokovic just has that blend. Djokovic has a bit of Federer, and he has a bit of Nadal. He's just a complete player.

He is just an incredible talent and incredible player. And you always knew he was going to be special. But once he got his diet right, and he started doing all the things that he's known for doing, his game just went on to another level and what's so impressive about the three of them is the longevity. It's okay winning 1, 2, 3 Grand Slams, maybe every 2, 3, 4 good years. These guys been guys have been going on for two decades. So that makes them the all-time greats of this sport. If Djokovic pitches in town and he wants to hit a few balls… we can do that.

How much has snooker changed in recent times?
Snooker has changed over the last 15 years, before it used to be a UK-based game. Maybe before there were players like James Wattana, Tony Drago, you'd have a few overseas players. Now you have so many players from China, Thailand, Australia, Ukraine, Russia. You've now got players from all over Europe now.

I go to tournaments now and I don't really know who the players are because there's so many new faces coming in and out the game. But it’s so great just to sort of play different types of styles of players. 

How does it feel to be the one that everybody wants to beat?
It's actually easier from my situation because you know what to expect. You kind of know when you go out there, you're going to have to play your best, that everybody's going to try and raise their game, everybody's going to try and do something to make you not play well.

But in my mind, I just know, it doesn't matter what they do. But there are days when I feel vulnerable. I had this confidence, self-belief in my game I've developed over the years to be able to withstand what anybody is going to throw at me and I love the challenge.

I think the most important thing for me now is that I enjoy the challenge. I enjoy new, young players coming through. I learned from them and I think yes, you do that very well, and I'm going to steal that off for you because I'm going to incorporate it in my own game and I'm going to try and do it even better than you. So, I love seeing new talent coming through because they come in with new ideas, fresh ideas, and then they make you ask questions of yourself as well. Even the best players in the world they don't know everything. You've always got to be open to learn new stuff.

Do you have a different preparation for the World Championships compared to other tournaments, given the kind of length of the tournament?
I think the whole season is preparation for the World Championship. You start off the season and you're trying to do as well as you can in all the other tournaments but it's always in your mind that okay, we've got the UK, the Masters, the Worlds, and they're certainly the three tournaments that if you can win one of them three in a season you've had a fantastic season.

You know you've always got Sheffield lurking around. I always go hard from September to the end of January, February. And I go, right, that's where I've kind of gone really, really hard at it, I've played a lot of tournaments, a lot of matches. And then come February, March, it's just about picking and choosing pacing myself and trying to iron out a few issues that I might have within my game that I try and just get right because obviously Sheffield is all about consistency. You don't want to be brilliant in one match and poor in the next. So, you kind of just trying to find that balance of being as efficient as you possibly can come Sheffield.

Who will be favourite for this here? You just said Neil is the best player of the world right now? Aren't you underestimating yourself?
I definitely don't underestimate myself. I always think, I've got I've got a chance. But I think over the last two years I've just managed to win maybe two tournaments - I was winning four or five tournaments every year up until then. So, to win two in two years, although I know one of them is the World Championship and that's the special one to win.

My stroke rate is probably not as high as it used to be. So I've accepted that and maybe destiny is not always in my hands like it used to be. But I'm also aware that if I get it right, with the experience that I've gotten - when I want to look at winning Sheffield - I just think there's one or two players that if I, if I can get through them, then I think I have as good a chance as anybody to win.

So I definitely do not underestimate them or underestimate myself. Obviously, you have to look at someone like Neil who's playing phenomenal snooker not just this season, but for the last two, three years. There's a lot of contenders this year, so I'm just pleased to be one of one of them.

You are obviously going to be working with Eurosport - do you see working in the media as a long -term goal of yours?
I love my relationship with Eurosport. I think it works really well at the moment because I'm a current player. They get to get me in the studio and I think it's great. I love snooker. I love watching other guys play. I love spending time with Jimmy [White] and all the all the crew at Eurosport. They're like one massive family. I definitely think if I had to choose between snooker or being a pundit at this stage in my life, it definitely would be a pundit because I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket and just play snooker. So, I'm fortunate enough to be able to do both and get the best of both worlds at the moment. At some point, I think there's always a job there for me sitting on the sofa talking about snooker. But I want to try and squeeze as much snooker as I can and enjoy it. 

Ronnie O'Sullivan is a Eurosport snooker expert. Discovery Sports' coverage of the World Snooker Championship from The Crucible in Sheffield starts on Saturday 16 April LIVE on Eurosport and discovery+