“RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has confirmed his plans to switch sports once he retires from snooker. The Rocket will be in action at the Masters in January 2026 as he faces Neil Robertson in the first round. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed he will take up a new sport after”, — write: www.thesun.co.uk
The Rocket will be in action at the Masters in January 2026 as he faces Neil Robertson in the first round.
Thank you!
Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed he will take up a new sport after retiring from snookerCredit: PA 
He will want to try his hand at HeyballCredit: Getty O’Sullivan, 50, has previously hinted that he could soon retire from snooker.
In October, he insisted he would put his cue away when there is “nothing left to achieve” in the sport.
He has insisted that he has a plan for when that time does come.
The Wordsley cueman has revealed that he would like to compete at the top level of Heyball.
Heyball is a fast-paced variant of pool on nine-foot tables from China and is known for its tight-rounded pockets.
Zheng Yubo and Chu Bingjie are currently the biggest stars in the sport and O’Sullivan would like to face off against them.
After watching the two in the ‘battle of the Century’ in Hangzhou, China the snooker icon confirmed his plan.
He said via TNT Sports: “I enjoyed the pool more than the snooker. It’s a great game.
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“I love playing snooker on this table with the pool balls, a new experience, and I’ve had a great time.
“I’ve never been that excited about a game.
“This is going to be the future for me once snooker’s finished.
“Obviously, using new equipment and bigger balls and the cue is a bit fatter.
“I just want to keep playing, keep improving, and hopefully one day I can play one of these guys in the final of a big tournament in China.”
The seven-time world champion has endured mixed form this season with a final appearance in Saudi Arabia.
But he has also suffered a first-round exit in the UK championship.
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
- 2025 – Zhao Xintong
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins