Snooker / Ralph Ellis / 27 March 2009 /

Snooker's bad boy may have cleaned up his game but he controversy seems to find him out sooner or later, says Ralph Ellis.

Sport needs its bad boys. It's part of the theatre of every contest that the men blessed with the biggest talents are very rarely gifted with the most even personalities as well. And oddly it seems to work at every level of the game - how often is the best player in your Sunday soccer side also the nicest bloke?

Maybe it's something to do with the need for an edge to reach excellence. Every top player has got that bit of aggression and arrogance in some measure. I even once saw Sir Trevor Brooking lose his temper during a press football match in Georgia with a bloke who was fouling him every two minutes - and that's the same guy who got kicked all over the pitch by the likes of Norman Hunter an never reacted one iota.

Think of John McEnroe, think of Ian Botham, of George Best. There's a tradition of the maverick genius that runs right through the modern sporting era, and we love and hate them in equal measure. Even today we have David Beckham insisting that Wayne Rooney's red mist is something that has to be accepted as part of the personality which makes the Manchester United and England star so good.

To the list of troubled geniuses must be added Ronnie O'Sullivan, unquestionably the most naturally talented snooker player of all time. Who else could pot shots right or left-handed, and clear a table at such devastating pace? (Four minutes and 37 seconds for a 147 to be precise - have a look at YouTube!). But amid all that brilliance has been the chaotic private life of addictions. He's even got himself hooked on running after trying to find something more healthy and won a 10k race in France in 34 minutes!

He's also hooked on trouble, and returns next week to the scene of one of his most notorious incidents when this year's China Open gets under way. O'Sullivan was flying out to the Far East today and has told the Daily Express he can't offer any promises that he won't get himself in trouble again - but thinks his massive Chinese fan base will forgive him for what happened last season. He provoked a storm after making crude comments and lewd gestures in a press conference, and was docked 700 points and fined £2,750.

He says: "You could say what I did in China was bad for the game and people at the time. But I'm just not the sort of person who will always do and say all the right things. People just need to accept me for who I am and I think they do over there. I apologised, got a rap over the knuckles, and I'm sure that I will get more raps."

Inevitably, O'Sullivan is [4.2] favourite to win the event, but it all depends on which Ronnie turns up. If it's the focused genius of the green baize then that's a blinding value bet because on form nobody can live with him. And given what happened last year there's every chance he will be on his best behaviour this time. He meets Fergal O'Brien in his first round match on Wednesday (fittingly April Fools Day) and is [1.21] to get off to a flyer.

Five things you might not know about snooker in China...

1. The sport was barely played in the country until the early 1980s when Barry Hearn took Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor to star in some promotional events.

2. A world ranking tournament was first played in China in Guangzhou in 1990 - and in the next few years there was an explosion of new clubs being opened.

3. In 1997 a Beijing doctor placed a 350 dollar bet at odds of 500-1 on a Chinese player becoming World Champion by 2010.

4. The China Open was first played in 2000, but dropped off the list a season later before being revived in 2005 with an extra wildcard round to enable 16 local players to take part.

5. When Ding Junhui beat Stephen Hendry in the 2005 final it drew a domestic audience of 110 million to CCTV5.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: