{"id":300305,"date":"2023-11-24T06:39:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T06:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=300305"},"modified":"2023-11-24T06:39:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T06:39:05","slug":"osullivan-opens-up-on-complex-relationship-with-dad-wouldnt-be-that-brutal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/nba\/osullivan-opens-up-on-complex-relationship-with-dad-wouldnt-be-that-brutal\/","title":{"rendered":"O’Sullivan opens up on complex relationship with dad – ‘Wouldn’t be that brutal’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stars attend green carpet for Ronnie O'Sullivan documentary<\/h3>\n

The relationship between Ronnie O’Sullivan and his dad, who spent nearly two decades in prison for murder, is a powerful thread running through the seven-time world snooker champion’s new documentary, ‘The Edge of Everything’.<\/p>\n

O’Sullivan Snr found success during his son’s younger years by running a string of sex shops in London. He used the resulting funds to buy a new house in Ilford, which caught his eye because of the big garden, at the bottom of which he went on to construct a snooker room.<\/p>\n

All the while, the Rocket was gaining notoriety while rising through the ranks as a teenager. But O’Sullivan’s life took an agonising turn when, at the age of just 17, his dad was jailed for murder.<\/p>\n

“By the time he went away I had a really special, close relationship with my dad,” he told Express Sport<\/em> before his documentary premiered in London this week. “We’d been on that march together, and for him to not be there, I felt like half of me had just been sliced out and taken away. It was horrible.”<\/p>\n

Don’t miss… <\/strong> Ronnie O’Sullivan threatens to quit snooker after row with WST bosses<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Moving documentary footage showed an emotional O’Sullivan recalling his dad’s concise message after being sentenced: ‘Tell my boy to win’.<\/p>\n

“When he said that, I knew he meant it,” he continued. “It was tough. But that’s what sort of drove me on to play and try to do a good job. I didn’t want to make him feel bad or disappointed in me. I was doing it more for my dad, at times, than I ever was for myself. Is that a bad thing? I’m not sure. I think it kept me playing.”<\/p>\n