BBC SPORT | Other Sport | World Snooker (original) (raw)

Ronnie O'Sullivan's mentor Ray Reardon believes the Rocket is the best snooker player the sport has ever seen.

"I've never seen anybody who could play the game better than this boy," Reardon told BBC Radio Five Live.

"He shouldn't be called the Rocket, he should be called the Magician," added Reardon, who has been giving O'Sullivan psychological and technical advice.

He added that O'Sullivan's physical regime includes running between four and seven miles every morning.

Six-time world champion Reardon began working with O'Sullivan when the player's father rang him four months ago.

Reardon said his role had been mainly to help O'Sullivan's mental approach.

"It's a bit of everything really. There were a few modifications that were required but the rest of it is just his own mental approach to it. I've got himself at peace with himself in other words."

O'Sullivan courted controversy in the opening rounds at the Crucible after banging the table and making several apparently obscene gestures but Reardon said it was all self-directed.

"He lives in the world of snooker and snooker balls and when they don't go right for him because of something which he does, he gets infuriated," said Reardon.

"It's not directed at anyone, it's at himself. He gets frustrated because he's such a perfectionist."

WATCH AND LISTEN

Ray Reardon "He's not a rocket - he's a magician"

WORLD SNOOKER 2004

SECOND TITLE FOR O'SULLIVAN

CRUCIBLE HISTORY

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