The Rocket’ has won 39 tournament titles since turning professional in 1992 but staying at the the top for so long has not been by accident. The 47-year-old may be one of the most naturally gifted players in the history of the sport but his longevity is sustained by a desire to exercise and eat well.

O’Sullivan is a runner and a good one at that. As a child the importance of running had been instilled in him by

his father, but when Ronnie Senior was imprisoned for murder the wheels came off and snooker’s future world

champion stopped exercising. By the time he was 20, he had ballooned to 15 stone with a 37-inch waist.

Spotting the red flags, he returned to running and got his life back on track, not to mention his snooker.

“Running has kept the things that are important to me – my family, relationships and snooker – much more

stable,” said O’Sullivan in an interview with Runners World in 2022. “I’ve noticed I don’t get so moody, there isn’t

the same self-loathing. Running just makes me feel so much better about myself, which is good for everyone around me too.”

Like many people who have suffered trauma in their lives, O’Sullivan had turned to drink and drugs to medicate

himself. But in his 2012 autobiography, Running, he explains how running was “my religion, my belief system”.

In 2004 he joined his local running club Woodford Green and by 2008 he was down to 11 and a half stone and

was capable of running 10k in a hugely impressive 34m 54 seconds. Now only a few years off turning 50 and

having suffered from several injuries, O’Sullivan can’t quite hit the heights of 2008 but he is still producing brilliant results.

I could probably only run a 20-minute 5K at the minute,” he said, whilst confirming that he was physically, mentally and professionally in a brilliant place.

O’Sullivan is a man who has previously hit the headlines for nights of binge drinking and high-jinx, but it is a

different story these days. He co-wrote a book about healthy eating and lifestyle choices with nutritionist

Rhiannon Lambert called Top of Your Game: Eating for Mind and Body.

Meeting Lambert proved to be significant for O’Sullivan. In 2017 he won five world-ranking titles in a season and he attributed it to his new diet.

Whilst cooking a Thai curry on Facebook Live alongside the nutritionist, he said: “Before I met Rhiannon, I was

playing well enough, but I was running out of steam. I got tired because I was eating bad food. But once I started

working with Rhiannon, I started eating differently.