‘You have to put people in their place’: Ronnie O’Sullivan on achieving greatness

'That's what makes great champions, they're prepared to hurt and do what they have to do'

As the current world number one, with the most ranking titles in professional snooker history, and a record 20 Triple Crown titles to his name, it is easy to see why Ronnie O'Sullivan is widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the history of the sport.

He has achieved undisputed greatness in his career, and he has done his way. The 46-year-old - who is a six-time world champion, a seven-time Masters champion, a seven-time UK champion, and now a Discovery Eurosport ambassador - is a winner. He always has been. Unsurprisingly, O'Sullivan has a lot of time for other winners, too. He appreciates greatness, and the dedication that is required to achieve it. "I do love a winner because I appreciate how hard it is to win, anyone can win, anyone can be number one, but doing it over a long period of time is the key," O'Sullivan told JOE. "The thing that puts those people in a bracket is that they've consistently done it over a long period of time, which makes them an all-time great. "A lot of people go 'oh he's a great player, and I'm like, 'he's only done for three of four years, he's only done it for five years, he's only done it for seven years, I did it for three decades'. "Phil Taylor did it for three decades, Tiger Woods did it for two decades, Roger Federer did it for two decades, [Novak] Djokovic two decades. "We're talking about decades here, not just three, four, five years. A lot of people go 'he's a great player', and I go, 'well if he's a great player than they've got to find a new word for Tiger Woods because you can't compare any golfer that's come along in the last 50 years to Tiger Woods. The world number one also understands that, in order to achieve greatness, and become one of the world's best, you have to be ruthless. During his career, O'Sullivan, by his own admission, has had to 'put people in their place'. While he understands that, at this stage of his career, that isn't necessarily his job anymore, he knows he conquered when he needed to conquer. "You have to put people in their place and I've had to do that for thirty years because people come along and I go 'he needs to be put in his place before he gets too big for his boots'," O'Sullivan added. "It's nothing against them, it might be a commentator that doubts you, or a player that doubts you and they might question you and you know why they're questioning you because I'm not winning as much as I did last year. "This guy Ding Junhui came along and we're all excited about this guy, and I put him in his place, and I kept putting him in his place and I kept putting a lot of them in their place. "I'm obviously not as good as putting people in their place now because I'm 46, so it's difficult for me to take that role on. "But from the age of 19 to say 40, say two decades, I put a lot of them in their place. Don't get me wrong, they gave me as good as I gave them, but I definitely put a dent in their career. The 46-year-old insists that 'great champions' are prepared to 'hurt and do what they have to do' throughout their career. While he appreciates that some sports stars want an 'easy ride', the snooker players believes that you cannot be an all-time great if you chose the simple option. O'Sullivan said: "If you want to be an all-time great and you want to be around a long time, you've got to roll your sleeves up, you've got to get dirty, you've got to go to the pits. "My mate calls it 'you've got to smoother yourself in mustard, are you prepared to smoother yourself in mustard?' and some people aren't. "That's what makes great champions, they're prepared to hurt and do what they have to do, they're prepared develop as a player and as a human being. "Some people aren't, they just get comfortable, they want the easy ride, they take the money, take whatever they get and that's fair play to them, but you can never call them an all-time great as far as I'm concerned." You can see more of Ronnie on discovery+ and Eurosport when the World Championships start on 16th April Related links:

• Snooker player apologises for drunk arrival at Turkish Masters
• Snooker player fined £2,500 for challenging opponent to fight
• Ronnie O’Sullivan nearly missed start of snooker game due to eating a kebab