Snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan once verbally dismantled a fellow player and claimed he should never be a professional on live TV.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, snooker’s mercurial genius, once unleashed a brutal verdict on fellow professional Daniel Wells, declaring on live TV that he should “never be” a full-time pro. The episode remains a vivid example of O’Sullivan’s merciless honesty and unfiltered commentary.
The confrontation happened during the Welsh Open, when O’Sullivan was working as a pundit for Eurosport rather than playing. While analyzing a match, he made pointed remarks about Wells, whom he believed lacked the driving force to succeed full-time in the pro game. “If I was advising him,” O’Sullivan said, “I’d tell him to stay as a part-time player … he’s tried … and he ain’t at that level — never will be.”
O’Sullivan didn’t hold back on his assessment of Wells’s mental game either. He said: “There’s a lot of players on tour who can’t mentally sustain it … He’s never going to be a tournament winner. He’s just not good enough.” The way O’Sullivan framed it, Wells’ value came not from championship potential, but merely from enjoying the game — as a hobbyist rather than a true contender.
But that wasn’t the only harsh judgment O’Sullivan made publicly. On another occasion — again during a broadcast — he criticized John Astley, saying Astley “ain’t got a snooker brain” and lamented that some players lack both natural feel and proper technique. According to O’Sullivan, to succeed on the pro circuit, a player must have either a solid technique or a “snooker brain” — a conceptual shorthand he uses for strategic nous, positional instinct, and the mental capacity to consistently make the right shot. He warned that if someone has neither, “maybe it’s time to find something else to do.”
Unsurprisingly, O’Sullivan’s remarks stung. Daniel Wells later responded publicly, saying the comments had been “upsetting” and emotionally difficult to absorb, especially coming from someone he once admired. Still, Wells described how he later used O’Sullivan’s words as motivation: he printed out the quote, put it on his snooker-room wall, and now sees it as a challenge — if he can win something, it will not just be a trophy, but a personal vindication.
What makes this incident particularly striking is how it lays bare Ronnie O’Sullivan’s dual identity: a peerless player who also constantly critiques the tour and its participants. He’s not just a competitor, but something of a barometer for what he considers elite-level snooker. His remarks, while harsh, reflect his belief in standards and what it really takes to compete — not merely to qualify, but to win.
In broader context, O’Sullivan has long expressed frustration with what he perceives as a dilution in the quality of players entering the professional ranks. He has openly questioned how many on tour truly belong among the elite and has made no secret of his disdain for complacency.
Ultimately, this moment was more than just a snarky pundit jab. It underlined O’Sullivan’s philosophy: snooker isn’t just a game of skill — it’s a mental battlefield, and only a few are built to fight, never mind win.
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