Dave Hendon: Why Ronnie O’Sullivan continues to flirt with retirement and when would be the right time to leave snooker

When is the right time to leave the party? On a high and still having fun or well past the time it’s ceased to be enjoyable?

Ronnie O’Sullivan has long pondered this conundrum. It’s a harder question for him because for extended periods of his career, he has been on top of the world and still looking for the exit.

Such a scenario could be tempting, but if he can win eight world titles, why not a ninth? Why not 10? He could enshrine a legacy which may remain unreachable for generations. And he may miss it as much as his vast legion of fans would miss him.

O’Sullivan’s retirement threats have been constant and at times comical. His first was after losing to Doherty in the 1994 UK Championship. He was 18.

Many of us have been surly teenagers, so this premature reaction to defeat could be forgiven. However, the threats continued and continued over three decades as he got older.

The downbeat statements left many fans bored, although the media kept reporting his vows to walk away with a straight face. Surely this time he means it, right?

In 2012, it seemed as if he had finally made good on his words, although he stated he would be taking a year off rather than departing the stage for good.

What to do with all that precious free time? O’Sullivan spent a few days working on a pig farm but inevitably ended up watching snooker on TV and by January 2013 was missing the circuit so much that he turned up at the Masters to watch two old foes, Mark Selby and Graeme Dott, doing battle.

He returned to competitive action a few months later and, with a style and nerve only he could summon, retained his world title. He has played a busy schedule ever since.

The other side of the sport, dealing with media and fans, the expectations of outsiders and demands on his time, the scrutiny and judgements, have always been something O’Sullivan has found hard to tolerate.

It was noticeable how freely he played at the 2020 World Championship, staged almost entirely behind closed doors because of Covid. With hardly anyone around wanting a piece of him, he won a first Crucible crown in seven years.

Two years later he secured a record-equalling seventh world title. His reaction was not one of joy but an outpouring of emotion after a mentally gruelling 17 days. Even after making history he was still left wondering why he was putting himself through this.

There is no playbook for when a snooker player retires. In physical sports, your body decides for you. The green baize game allows for longevity, although aches and pains are still common for players who have spent most of their lives bent over a table potting balls.

Many a snooker player has threatened retirement, usually in the aftermath of defeat. They invariably come to their senses, not least because most have little else to fall back on having been focused on nothing but the table since their childhood years.

Ali Carter is a qualified pilot so he could take to the skies, but the thrill of competition is too compelling to turn away from while he is still playing the sort of snooker that took him close to the Masters title earlier this month.

Hardly anyone actually walks away of their own volition. They are usually dragged off kicking and screaming, often ending up back in Q School trying to start all over again.

Terry Griffiths, the 1979 world champion, dropped out of the elite top 16 in 1996 and retired a year later at the age of 49, but he had a position lined up as head of coaching for snooker’s governing body.

Stephen Hendry, seven times the Crucible king, made the shock decision to retire in 2012 at 43. Like Griffiths, he had dropped out of the top 16 and was finding it hard to accept losing to players he would once have swatted away. But Hendry also had a lucrative job waiting for him, promoting pool in China.

More recently Alan McManus called it a day in 2021 but by then he had long established himself as a brilliant TV analyst. Fergal O’Brien, a professional since 1991, will retire at the end of this season with relegation from the circuit looming. He plans to coach and has joined the Eurosport commentary team.

Notice that all these retired players have remained within snooker. It’s what they know and love. Steve Davis became a musician and DJ but still pitches up at tournaments for studio punditry, as if the link is too deep-seated to be broken.

Hendry of course came back eight years later, accepting a wildcard for the tour. His old rival Jimmy White, 61, has no thoughts whatsoever about packing it in.

O’Sullivan is the world No. 1. He has won four titles this season, losing only three matches the whole campaign. He is closing in on £1m in prize money for the current term and is clearly still feared by the majority of the tour. Given all of that, it would be a huge decision to quit any time soon.

Time catches up with us all in the end. There will come a moment when O’Sullivan actually will retire. Most likely it will only be from professional competition. He can write his own cheques for exhibition, media, and ambassadorial work. He will remain a huge figure in the sport long after he is still chasing titles.

Snooker is O’Sullivan’s anchor. It defines him, whether he likes that fact or not. It is his means of making a good living, of expressing himself, of feeling fulfilled.

Like any long-term relationship, it has its ups and downs but he keeps coming back to it because that first spark of love he experienced when young is still in him.

So even if he does walk away, he won’t be walking far.