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Metro
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Metro
Snooker prospect Ronnie Sullivan on obvious comparison: 'It does my head in'
Ronnie Sullivan is an eye-catching name in the draw for Q School this week, although the young prospect is already bored of questions about his near-namesake. The 20-year-old from Coulsdon is making his way in the game, committing full-time to snooker in recent months as he chases his dream. He heads to Q School in Leicester this week hoping to win a place on the professional circuit and begin to see the hours on the practice table pay off. With a name so similar to the sport's greatest ever player, obvious questions will arise, but Sullivan says his name and chosen sport is all just a coincidence. 'It is just a coincidence really,' he told Metro. 'They [his parents] were deciding between two names and just picked one. I don't even know if they realised it until I started playing snooker that I had the same name as Ronnie.' On whether the name inspired him to take up snooker, he said: 'I didn't really care about the name, to be honest. It's got to the point now where when anyone mentions it it just does my head in. 'I have met him a couple of times. I get on with him. He's a nice fella. We have a mutual mate and I think he mentioned me to him a couple of times.' Despite their association, the Rocket is not Sullivan's snooker hero, with the youngster looking to Stephen Hendry and Neil Robertson as his role models. 'Just because how much Hendry won really,' he explained. 'I think he retired five years before I even started playing, but I've spent hours watching him. He was the best. 'And Robertson, I think everything about him is just the best. Technique-wise, I think the way he plays the game, it's probably between him and Judd [Trump].' Sullivan is at the other end of the snooker food chain to O'Sullivan, quitting work doing house clearances to focus entirely on the game, which is not easy in financial terms. The 20-year-old is looking for a sponsor to help him on his journey in the game, which he believes will take him to the top. 'I've been playing since I was 11 or 12,' he explained. 'I took a year out last year while I was working, but I've been playing full-time since December again. Banging in the hours, eight hours a day, religiously. 'I haven't got a sponsor, that's the struggle with it, it's quite hard financially. So my dad helps me out a lot, as much as he can. 'It's expensive and I couldn't go to the WSF Championship this year [in Morocco]. A lot of things I missed out on abroad because I just couldn't really go. More Trending 'But I'm trying to go all the way. If I didn't think I could do it, I wouldn't be playing full-time. 'I'm only going to get anywhere with the game if I'm going to put the hours in. So it's got to be done and I enjoy it, I really enjoy it. So at least I'm doing something that I love.' Sullivan has been putting in the work, not only on his own, but with coach Terry Burke and practicing with the likes of Joe Perry ahead of getting his Q School campaign underway on Wednesday. That campaign begins in Leicester at 9am, with eight two-year tour cards on the line over two events. MORE: World Women's Snooker Championship draw, schedule and how to watch MORE: Stephen Hendry names his top five snooker players of all-time MORE: Kyren Wilson to take leaf out of Ronnie O'Sullivan's book after Crucible disappointment
Irish Daily Mirror
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Snooker star with 12-year ban misses World Championships despite completing ban
Disgraced snooker star Stephen Lee could have pursued qualification for this year's World Championship, as his 12-year ban from playing ceased in October 2024. In 2013, the former World No.5 was handed a 12-year ban, which was backdated to 2012, after being found guilty of match fixing. He was punished for seven instances of match-fixing during 2008 and 2009, which were condemned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) as the "the worst case of corruption" within snooker circles. Lee's punishment stood as the harshest until 2023 when Li Hang and Liang Wenbo received lifetime bans following another match-fixing exposé. However, unlike the Chinese pair, Lee's suspension has run its course, which provided him with the opportunity to qualify for the ongoing World Snooker Championship, had he chosen to do so. Should the ambition bite for next year, Lee must first clear the substantial £40,000 fine levied by the WPBSA, which escalated to £125,000 after an ill-fated appeal attempt. Paying off this debt would open pathways for qualification via options like the Q Tour, the WSF Championship, or Q School for the next World Snooker Tour season. To facilitate his return, the WPBSA clarified to the Mirror, stating: "Stephen Lee would need to reach a satisfactory agreement with the WPBSA over the settlement of his outstanding costs before he could return to compete at WPBSA/WST events." Lee had previously expressed his reluctance to return to competition in an interview with the Mirror back in 2022. He said: "I must get asked this weekly, daily, minutely. I would like to say no, but I am still capable of playing "Let's see what happens in two years. It's not a no, and not a yes. My eyes are getting worse, and I never had good eyes to start with. As you get older the determination and the fire goes." Around the same time, in a candid response on Facebook, Lee further quashed rumours of a comeback, writing: "Not a chance of it my friend. I struggle to break off nowadays. It's down to my son now.." Lee responded to the match-fixing allegations, claiming he was "totally innocent" and "devastated" by the guilty verdict. However, a tribunal found him guilty of intentionally throwing matches against Ken Doherty and Marco Fu at the 2008 Malta Cup, and also deliberately losing the opening frame in matches against Stephen Hendry and Mark King at the 2008 UK Championship. A 2012 verdict from Tribunal Chairman Adam Lewis said: "I concluded that Mr Lee did not strike me as a cynical cheat, but rather as a weak man who under financial pressure, succumbed to the temptation to take improper steps that he may well have justified to himself as not really wrong, because the ultimate result of the match, win or lose, was the same. "These breaches occurred when Mr Lee was in a financially perilous state not entirely of his own making and was finding it difficult to obtain entry to enough tournaments. As a weak man in a vulnerable position, he succumbed to temptation. I consider it unlikely that he was the prime mover or instigator of the activity. It seems to me likely that advantage was taken of him."
Daily Mirror
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Snooker star slapped with 12-year ban missed 2025 World Championship after suspension ended
The 2025 World Snooker Championship featured most of the game's top players, but there was one controversial star who did not appear at the Crucible off the back of his 12-year ban The snooker world will never forget the humongous ban that disgraced match-fixer Stephen Lee was handed in 2012. Just over a decade ago, the former World No. 5 was slapped with a whopping 12-year ban after being found guilty of match-fixing. He was punished for seven counts of fixing matches which took place between 2008 and 2009. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) described it as "the worst case of corruption". Lee's suspension was the longest handed out to any snooker player until the match-fixing scandal of 2023, when Li Hang and Liang Wenbo were banned for life. Unlike the Chinese duo, Lee's ban is now over, and – if he wanted to – he would have been free to attempt to qualify for this year's World Snooker Championship. If the 50-year-old decided he has unfinished business at the Crucible, he would have had to settle the enormous fine he was handed by the WPBSA. As well as his hefty ban, he was also ordered to part with £40,000 in costs, which would rise up to £125,000 as a result of an unsuccessful appeal he made. Should the fines be paid, he would be free to try and qualify through Q Tour, the WSF Championship or Q School to qualify for next season's World Snooker Tour. Outlining what he would need to do, the WPBSA told the Mirror: "Stephen Lee would need to reach a satisfactory agreement with the WPBSA over the settlement of his outstanding costs before he could return to compete at WPBSA/WST events.' Meanwhile, a previous interview Lee gave to the Mirror suggests that he does not have the appetite to compete again. In 2022, he said: "I must get asked this weekly, daily, minutely. "I would like to say no, but I am still capable of playing. Let's see what happens in two years. It's not a no, and not a yes. "We can only just see what happens in a couple of years' time. I have some exciting things coming up, and I'm also getting older. "My eyes are getting worse, and I never had good eyes to start with. As you get older the determination and the fire goes.' Not long after the interview, Lee was seen replying to a Facebook user, who asked if he would want to return to the sport. Lee said: "Not a chance of it my friend. I struggle to break off nowadays. It's down to my son now…' At the time of his punishment, Lee insisted he was "totally innocent" and was completely "devastated" when the punishment was handed to him. It was ruled by the tribunal that he intentionally lost to Ken Doherty and Marco Fu at the 2008 Malta Cup and also deliberately lost the first frame in matches against Stephen Hendry and Mark King, all the way back in 2008 at the UK Championship. A 2012 statement from Tribunal Chairman Adam Lewis said: "I concluded that Mr Lee did not strike me as a cynical cheat, but rather as a weak man who under financial pressure, succumbed to the temptation to take improper steps that he may well have justified to himself as not really wrong, because the ultimate result of the match, win or lose, was the same. "These breaches occurred when Mr Lee was in a financially perilous state not entirely of his own making and was finding it difficult to obtain entry to enough tournaments. As a weak man in a vulnerable position, he succumbed to temptation. I consider it unlikely that he was the prime mover or instigator of the activity. It seems to me likely that advantage was taken of him."
