O'Sullivan making most of mentoring role

Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed how mentoring the next generation of cue stars has reminded him why he fell in love with snooker in the first place.

The three-time former world champion has hit a sticky patch in his career, losing first-round matches at the UK Championship and Ladbrokes Mobile Masters in the past six weeks.

He has tumbled to ninth in the world rankings, and results have cast doubt on whether, at the age of 35, O’Sullivan can regain the form which made him the game’s most feared player.

Thankfully O’Sullivan remains passionate about the sport which has made him a multi-millionaire, and he is investing time and energy into Future Stars, which is designed to guide teenage prodigies into the professional ranks.

This year’s Rileys-backed scheme was launched at Wembley yesterday, and O’Sullivan is inviting youngsters to take part, explaining how it has brought back happy memories.

“My younger days were the days when I had so much fun playing the game and enjoying it, and to be able to work with people who are going through the same love for something, it’s great for me,” O’Sullivan said.

“Working with the kids of 14, 15, 16 is great, because I see a lot of myself in them.

“It’s good for the soul.”

Sheffield’s Joel Walker was named the first Future Stars champion during the World Championship last year, and O’Sullivan has remained in contact with the Yorkshire youngster.

O’Sullivan explained: “Those kids don’t know whether they’re going to be champions or not, all they’re doing is playing a game that they love.

“We all dream that we want to be world champion and be at the Masters, but you never actually believe it until you get there. That’s how it was with me. I had to pinch myself – ’Am I really here?’.

“They’re just playing because they love playing the game, and to be involved and try to pass on a bit of knowledge and experience to some of these kids is great.”

O’Sullivan was still a teenager when he won the first of his four Masters titles.

Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen ended the crowd favourite’s hopes of landing a fifth Masters title this year when he took out O’Sullivan in the opening round on Tuesday, fuelling talk the Englishman’s game is in decline.

O’Sullivan has landed the Premier League and Power Snooker titles this season, but neither is a ranking-point event.

“It hasn’t been a disaster of a season, but I haven’t quite done it in the two big major events, which is a little disappointing,” O’Sullivan told Press Association Sport.

“I’ve got maybe four or five events left to play and I’d like to win one of them, that’d be great, so we’ll have to wait and see. There’s no time to get lazy.”

Yesterday saw reigning world champion Neil Robertson reach the quarter-finals with a 6-3 victory over Stephen Hendry.