Ronnie O’Sullivan may be a whizz on the snooker table, but now he has admitted why he decided to up sticks and leave the UK behind, taking jabs at British motorists in the process
Snooker champ Ronnie O’Sullivan has said he moved to Dubai because English traffic is so bad. The 49-year-old, known as The Rocket and who has pocketed almost £15m in prize money after winning 41 titles, said driving from his old home in Essex to London was ‘horrific’.
He said that the best practice tables were in London, but that he had to drive from his home in Chigwell, on the edge of Epping Forest, into the capital whenever he wanted to sharpen up his game. Speaking this week, Ronnie said that the trip took him 1hr 20m there and 1hr 20m to get back home.
He also said he couldn’t get to his mum Maria’s house because a road bridge had been closed. He added the council hadn’t got the cash to re-open it.
As a result of the hellish traffic and closed road bridge, Ronnie said he and wife Laili Rouass decided to up sticks and move to Dubai earlier this year. He said there weren’t any ‘good practice tables’ near his Essex home, adding: “So I had to do a lot of trips into London, an hour and twenty minutes each way.
“It was a headache — getting around London takes too long, I just find it all a bit too hectic, I couldn’t get anything done there. The highlight of my day was going out to Stratford Westfield and having a cup of tea in the Carluccio’s.”
Speaking about struggling to get to see his mum, he said a road bridge between his old house and his mum’s house had been closed. It later turned out it would remain so “for years, because the council hasn’t got the money to fix it”.
He added: “So it took me an hour to go and see my mum, when it should be just a four-minute journey.” Asked why he chose Dubai, he said: “I just like the simplicity of it there, the weather’s great.”
He also compared himself to Rodney from Only Fools and Horses, saying his dad – Ronnie Snr – was just like Del Boy. He said: “He was my hero, he’s like Del Boy. I’m like Rodney.”
His move to Dubai comes after the snooker star suffered a humiliating defeat at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship. Despite being a favourite to win the entire tournament and take home a cash prize of £250,000, he was knocked out of the competition in his first match.
O’Sullivan could not muster enough to win a single frame of the match against Shaun Murphy, who went on to destroy the seven-time world champ in Saudi Arabia. His loss also came after he made a heart-wrenching vow to patch things up with his estranged daughter, Taylor-Ann Magnus.
Speaking to the media, Ronnie revealed he had promised Taylor-Ann that he would “make amends”, despite having not spoken to her for the best part of a decade. He admitted: “I don’t know how it’s going to work out. Hopefully, at some point, it might sort itself out. Who knows? I don’t know.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.