Ronnie O'Sullivan - Extended Edit

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 November 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This is an extended version of a programme first broadcast on Sunday 28 May 2023.

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

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0:00.0	You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.
0:06.5	I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:11.2	I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,
0:16.0	relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.
0:22.4	So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,
0:28.3	and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience, and maybe that's you.
0:33.6	So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.
0:39.5	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.
0:43.4	Hello, I'm Lauren Levern and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast.
0:47.1	Every week I ask my guest to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were cast away to a desert island.
0:55.0	And for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.
0:59.7	I hope you enjoy listening.
1:00.8	I hope you enjoy listening. My castaway this week is the snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan.
1:27.2	He's arguably the greatest player in the long history of his sport,
1:31.0	and his career is littered with superlatives.
1:33.8	At 19, he became the youngest master's winner in history.
1:37.1	Last year at 46, he became the oldest winner of the world championships,
1:40.8	a title he's won seven times.
1:43.2	He's made over a thousand century breaks, more than
1:46.2	any other player in competition, and has held the record for the fastest 147 break since
1:51.5	1997 when he cleared the table in five minutes and eight seconds. It's not just his wins
1:58.2	that have earned his place in the history books, though. It's how he's
	...

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