Ronnie O'Sullivan

Date of Birth: 5 Dec 1975
Lives: Chigwell, Essex
World Ranking: 3
Last Five Seasons WR: 1-1-5-3-1
Last Season in PLS: Finalist
Best PLS Performance: Winner (1997, 2001, ’02, ’05, ’05, ’06, ’07, ‘08)
Turned Pro: 1992
Ranking Tournament Victories: 22 - UK Championship 1993, 1997, 2001, 2007; British Open 1994; Asian Classic 1996; German Open 1996; Scottish Open 1998, 2000; China Open 1999, 2000; World Championship 2001, 2004, 2008; European Open 2003; Irish Masters 2003, 2005; Welsh Open 2004, 2005; Grand Prix 2004; Northern Ireland Trophy 2008; Shanghai Masters 2009
Last Season’s Prize Money: £238,940
Highest Tournament Break: 147 - nine times

Ronnie O’Sullivan is the most successful player in the history of the Premier League as he secured his record-breaking ninth title at Potters last December.

That proved to be the sole highlight of the Rocket’s season as he generally had a poor season in as he tumbled down the rankings to No 11.

After missing the Roewe Shanghai Masters through injury, he bounced back by reaching the final of the 12BET.com World Open in Glasgow. Never far away from controversy, O'Sullivan caused a stir in his first match against Mark King by threatening to leave the black on the table at the end of a 147 clearance, before being pursuaded to knock the black in by referee Jan Verhaas.

That was the tenth maximum of his career - a record which was matched later in the season by Stephen Hendry.

However, the tournament was to end in disappointment for the Rocket as he was thumped 5-1 in the final by Neil Robertson.

Amazingly, he then went seven months without winning a match in a full ranking event, suffering a series of first round exits. His form was much better in invitation tournaments and he won the inaugural Power Snooker event and took the prestigious Premier League title for a record ninth time by thrashing Shaun Murphy 7-1 in the final.

By the time the Betfred.com World Championship came around, O'Sullivan was in a fragile state and even decided to pull out of snooker's biggest event, only to change his mind the following day.

A few sessions with psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters worked wonders and got the Essex cueman into a positive mood at the Crucible. After a 10-2 first round victory over Dominic Dale he said: "I enjoyed that as much as I did the first time I played at the Crucible. I didn't want it to end, I wanted to keep playing. I've never felt like that before. I won't disclose what (the psychology sessions) are about. It won't make me a better snooker player but hopefully it will allow me to feel 99 per cent as good as the other players feel, so I'm on a level playing field."

O'Sullivan went on to beat Shaun Murphy 13-10 in the second round, but his lack of sharpness and consistency eventually took its toll as he went down 13-10 to John Higgins in the quarter-finals.

O'Sullivan's last ranking title came at the start of the 2009/10 season as he won the Roewe Shanghai Masters by beating Chinese star Liang Wenbo 10-5 in the final. He also reached the final of the Masters in the same season but let slip a 9-6 lead against Mark Selby, losing 10-9.

"For 17 years I've been playing like a plum, and being hot and cold made me depressed. I can't do that to myself any more. The frustration is that if I got it right I would smash all these players up, I'd demolish them," said O'Sullivan after that defeat.

The 2007/08 season was arguably the best of O'Sullivan's career as he made three maximums to take his career tally to a record nine, and won the UK Championship as well as his third World Championship. His 18-8 defeat of Ali Carter in the Crucible final saw him take a step towards fulfilling his massive potential.

He first won the world title in 2001 when he beat Higgins 18-14 and took his second crown in 2004 when he easily saw off Graeme Dott 18-8.

O'Sullivan's fast, attacking style and charismatic personality have made him snooker's most popular player across the globe. Blessed with the rare gift of being able to play to a high standard both left-handed and right-handed, he made the fastest 147 on record at the 1997 World Championship, a blur of potting which lasted 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

In a match against Carter at the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy, O'Sullivan became the first player ever to make five centuries (including a 147) in a ranking event best-of-nine match, winning the game 5-2.

Away from snooker, he is dedicated to long distance running, a pastime which he believes has helped him enormously in his battle against depression. His friends in the showbiz world include artist Damien Hirst and Kasabian's Serge Pizzorno.

O'Sullivan has a daughter called Lily, born in February 2006, and a son called Ronnie born in June 2007.