Ronnie O'Sullivan, snooker player

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2023

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ronnie O’Sullivan OBE is currently ranked the number one snooker player in the world, and is widely regarded as one of the finest players in the history of the sport. He has won the Masters a record seven times and he jointly holds the record for winning the World Snooker Championship seven times. Since 1997 he has held the world record for the fastest 147 break, leading to his nickname 'the Rocket'. Ronnie grew up in Essex and his father gave him his first snooker cue when he was seven. He took to the game immediately: he was playing on a full size snooker table when he was just eight, and two years later he was beating adult players. By the age of 12, he was winning cash prizes in local tournaments, and was soon earning more than his teachers. Ronnie turned professional when he was 16, and quickly established himself as a star player and a fans' favourite - but he has also made headlines away from the snooker table, with accounts of his depression and struggles with alcohol and drugs. For many years he has kept his physical and mental health in check through his passion for running. He received an OBE in 2016 for services to snooker. DISC ONE: Lose Yourself - Eminem DISC TWO: Careless Whisper - Wham! DISC THREE: Step by Step - Whitney Houston DISC FOUR: Real Gone Kid - Deacon Blue DISC FIVE: You’re So Vain - Carly Simon DISC SIX: Maybe Tomorrow - Stereophonics DISC SEVEN: Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me) - Train DISC EIGHT: That’s All - Genesis BOOK CHOICE: Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand Finn LUXURY ITEM: A painting set CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: That’s All - Genesis Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts
0:04.9	Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Desert Island Disks Podcast.
0:08.6	Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take
0:13.3	with them if they were cast away to a desert island.
0:16.6	This is an extended version of the original Radio 4 broadcast and for right reasons the
0:21.8	music is shorter than the original broadcast.
0:24.6	I hope you enjoy listening.
0:30.9	Music
0:48.6	My cast away this week is the Sniper Player Roni O'Sullivan.
0:52.2	He's arguably the greatest player in the long history of his sport and his career is littered
0:57.5	with superlatives.
0:58.9	At 19 he became the youngest master's winner in history.
1:02.2	Last year at 46 he became the oldest winner of the world championships, a title he's won
1:07.0	seven times.
1:08.0	He's made over a thousand century breaks, more than any other player in competition and
1:13.6	has held the record for the fastest one for seven breaks since 1997 when he cleared the
1:19.0	table in five minutes and eight seconds.
1:22.1	It's not just his wins that have earned his place in the history books though, it's
1:26.1	how he's played the game.
1:27.8	His attack, intensity and flair on the bays earned him the nickname the rocket and his
1:32.6	ascent captured the imaginations of sports fans around the world but there were times when
1:37.7	it seemed like he might crash and burn.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.