Ronnie O'Sullivan's snooker plans shared by manager after relationship bombshell
Ronnie O'Sullivan's long-time manager, Jason Francis, has issued an update on the Rocket's plans for the new season following a troubled 2024/25 campaign on and off the table
Ronnie O'Sullivan's manager has revealed the snooker legend's plans for the new season as the Rocket enjoys his new life in the Middle East.
The seven-time world champion endured a troubled 2024/25 campaign, which saw him not play competitively between January and April after smashing his cue in anger at the Championship League and withdrawing before his final group match. Armed with a new cue, he made his long-awaited return to action at the World Championship, making the last four, where he was outgunned by eventual champion Zhao Xintong.
After his 17-7 defeat, O'Sullivan revealed he would be moving to the Middle East, where he has a snooker academy in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Away from the table, the Rocket is sensationally said to have reconciled with actress Laila Rouass following the pair's break-up nine months ago. The couple are reported to be planning for their new life in Dubai, a two-hour flight from Riyadh.
The Rocket's manager, Jason Francis, says the 49-year-old has embraced the change of scenery and expects him to play at the Shanghai Masters – a high-profile invitational event, which begins at the end of July – before committing fully to a limited schedule.
'Ronnie's moved out to the Middle East for a while. You'll probably see him first in Shanghai. He's had a little break from the UK,' Francis told the Express.
'You're talking about someone who can't go to the shop without being asked for a selfie, a photo. Where he is, he's finding a life a little bit quieter at the moment.
'Ronnie's Ronnie. He'll decide when he wants to play and everyone knows he can come from nowhere to win a major tournament.
'You won't see Ronnie play a full schedule [this season] but I think you'll see him try and properly prepare for the tournaments he plays in.
'Ronnie will be 50 in December, people have to remember that. They still expect him to turn up and win everything.'
O'Sullivan made the semis at the Crucible despite continuing cue issues, which prompted him to make emergency changes between sessions against Zhao. And his performance on the whole certainly impressed his manager.
'Absolutely incredible,' said Francis of O'Sullivan's showing in Sheffield. 'He didn't even have a cue a few weeks before! But that's Ronnie for you. He had one bad session [losing all eight frames in the second session].
'I'm not saying he could have beaten Xintong – there was a feeling his name was on the trophy – but apart from one bad session, he was still toe to toe with him.
'I think if he had beaten Xintong, him and Mark Williams would have been an incredible final. But it's great for snooker to have a Chinese world champion and it's for World Snooker to exploit that.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
12 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Phil Foden lifts lid on brother's autism struggle as Man City star hires carer
The dad-of-three says looking after his brother and his other younger siblings helped prepare him for fatherhood, which he described as 'special - the best feeling ever' Phil Foden has hired a carer to help look after his autistic brother. The kind-hearted England and Man City star made the move after seeing how difficult it was for his mum Claire Rowlands to care for him around the clock. Revealing his family's plight for the first time, Phil, 25, said: "My brother's got autism so when I was growing up I'd do a lot of time looking after him. "It's very hard. My mum's got a hard job there. She just has to look after him full-time. He just loves like... he's dead sensory like touch and stuff dangling things. That's how he enjoys himself." Phil added: "I've got my mum a helper now who comes and has him for a few days to help take the weight off her, but it's one of those." The Three Lions star says looking after his brother and his other younger siblings as a youngster helped prepare him for fatherhood. He has three children, including son Ronnie, five, and two other kids, including daughter True, who was born in 2021. Asked how it feels to be a dad, Foden said: "It's special - best feeling ever. I love it. It makes you see more than football - when you go home and see your family, there's something more to life. Speaking about Ronnie, he added: "[He means] everything. He's class. He's so funny, honestly. He's top." Asked what makes him happy, Foden said: " Football, family, fishing. Three things, simple things. Last month Foden netted a "personal best" 47lb carp on his 25th birthday fishing trip. He achieved the feat while fishing with three rods near Disneyland Paris, then waded into the water to pose with the carp, which he claimed was his "pb". Last summer, he snubbed exotic footballer filled foreign resorts to go on a five-day £14-a-day angling holiday in the Cotswolds with his dad fishing for carp, catfish, tench, pike and perch. But he recently faced problems when neighbours complained about the noise coming from a fishing-themed birthday bash, complete with a nightclub-style sound system, singer and DJs, at his new home in Cheshire. Foden's partner Rebecca, 24, posted videos of the party on their son Ronnie's Instagram account, which showed 2018 The Voice singer Holly Ellison belting out dance tracks as partygoers enjoyed themselves. Speaking about his love of the hobby during a fishing trip, he told YouTuber StillRyan: "Football's so different to this. It's a noisy crowd, the pressure, and then you come here and it's just completely different. It's just chilled, no noise, I can just switch off. It's just silent. It's just that switch that I like." Foden added he wants to become a youth football coach when he eventually retires from playing. He said: "One day I want to be a coach and coach the young kids in the academy. I just love it really, helping people and making them a better person. "It's how I've grown up wanting to help people and make people happy. Trying to help anyone out that I can." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
BBC News
15 hours ago
- BBC News
'I expect Hearts to be third after first 10 games'
We asked for your views on Hearts' Scottish Premiership fixtures and how they will be faring after 10 what some of you said:Ronnie: Can't see us losing any of the first six games to be fair, think we can be good on the road this season and hopefully we take it to the Glasgow Looking at the opening 10 fixtures, there's no reason why Hearts shouldn't be within the top four with the recruitment over the summer they have done already. Looking at how the new manager is building a squad and creating a new feel around Tynecastle, I have no doubts this could be an interesting season for Hearts Expect Hearts to be at least third after 10 games. Much will depend on how the new arrivals settle in and who is left from the season past. Got to be picking up more wins at home, including against Celtic and Rangers. Pressure on the new manager and all the background facilities to start way better than last The fixture list is the fixture list, but why oh why can't we have a traditional start to the season and all games kick off at 15:00 on a Saturday? As a Jambo season ticket holder and living in Inverness, this Monday night nonsense is not the best start and sours it a bit for me, personally. As for Hearts' start to the season, it has to be better than the last one, and I'm sure it will be. I don't think Derek McInnes will muck about if players are not up to the mark from the start.
Daily Mirror
17 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Trent Alexander-Arnold agreement over what ‘he'll be glad' about after nightmare
Trent Alexander-Arnold made his first start for Real Madrid in their 1-1 draw with Al-Hilal, but the England international endured a pretty disastrous start for his new club at the FIFA Club World Cup Alan Shearer is convinced that Trent Alexander-Arnold will "get better" with time at Real Madrid. The former Liverpool defender made his debut for the Spanish giants on Wednesday, taking part in their 1-1 draw against Al-Hilal at the FIFA Club World Cup. Gonzalo Garcia scored the opener for Madrid, before Ruben Neves levelled things up from the penalty spot just before half-time for the Saudi team. Federico Valverde thought he was going to clinch the win in stoppage time, but his late penalty was saved by Bono to ensure the Spaniards were held to a draw. Alexander-Arnold's first match in Madrid white ultimately didn't go down as well as he would've hoped. Despite delivering crosses into the box and pushing forward, he lost possession a staggering 12 times before being hooked off in the 65th minute. During an episode of the Rest is Football podcast, Gary Lineker discussed the England international's debut, admitting that the defender will be relieved to now have his first start behind him – even if it didn't go to plan. Reflecting on Madrid's draw with Al-Hilal, the former Tottenham Hotspur star said: "Trent's debut is the obvious place to start. I thought he was a little bit slow early on, in warming up, but I thought he grew into the game. You saw a few crosses from him and he had lots of possession of the ball. He'll be glad to get that game out the way won't he?" Sky Sports host Alex Aljoe was in agreement, adding: "I thought it was interesting what Xabi Alonso said after the game, it was like he said, 'Look, he's a really talented player, but talent isn't enough.' It's almost like he wanted to say that, he's sort of making a statement by coming out and saying that. "He said he needs to get better defensively, and that's where he was exposed; at the back at times in that game. I think in general, Real Madrid lack experienced, high-quality defenders." Shearer chimed in, suggesting that Alexander-Arnold will need more time to adapt to Madrid's playing style, and insisted that there is much more to come from the Premier League star. The Newcastle United legend said: "I think it's clearly going to take time to get used to a new manager, new sort of ideas of what he wants to do. "Trent obviously is going to take time to understand and get used to his surroundings, that's only normal. But, he'll have bigger and better ideas than that." Shearer agreed with Lineker, and said: "I think he'll be pleased that it's out of the way [making his debut]. He's maybe disappointed that he didn't do so well, the team didn't do so well, they didn't get the right result. It'll get better, there's no doubt." While Lineker, Shearer and Aljoe were reluctant to slate Alexander-Arnold too much, not everyone shared their stance. Several prominent football rating platforms handed Alexander-Arnold low scores. Football Espana and Sport both gave the English defender a 5/10, with the former labelling his performance "underwhelming" and criticising his lack of impact in attack. After the match, the 26-year-old opened up about his move from his boyhood team to the La Liga side, acknowledging that leaving Liverpool was "a big change" he felt was necessary at this point in his career. Alexander-Arnold said: "It's a very proud moment for me. It's a moment that most, if not all players, dream of at some point in their life. But it was very challenging to play in that heat and very different from England. "It's the first time I've moved clubs. I didn't know what to expect and it's a big change but I'm loving every single minute of it. In my mind and in my heart, I know that I made the right decision for me." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
