It's hard to think of anyone who is as clearly the face of their sport as Ronnie O'Sullivan is with snooker.
The Englishman is the joint record holder for most World Snooker Championships and has won 41 ranking titles - also a record.
Perhaps even more than his brilliance with the cue, O'Sullivan has endeared himself to sports fans through his big personality around major tournaments, frequently drawing a media frenzy due to his outspoken remarks.
The 48-year-old has yet again made some eyebrow-raising remarks this week, with O'Sullivan suggesting he could soon be tempted to step away from snooker entirely.
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Ronnie O'Sullivan teases switch to Chinese 8-ball pool
Speaking to Shanghai outlet Let's Meet, Ronnie O'Sullivan said that he was tempted to pack in his snooker career and move to China to compete in eight-ball pool instead.
O'Sullivan has been vocal in recent years about the upcoming young generation in snooker and admitted in this week's interview that he doubted whether he would be able to keep the pace for much longer.
The seven-time world champion further admitted that those doubts had him pondering whether now was the time to jump ship.
Any cue sport fascinates me, so I’m looking at how popular Chinese 8-Ball is in China now. It’s huge, it’s massive.
I’m trying to see if there’s an appetite for me to go over and play pool at some point. I can’t keep playing snooker against the young guys, getting up for it, match-in-match-out, I don’t want to be playing just for the sake of it.
I want to keep playing for the next 10-15 years, earning a living, having a good time. China’s a place I like to go, obviously it’s a very popular sport out there. But I’ll just have to see what my sponsors are like.
I’d have to get used to the game, but it wouldn’t take me long.
It would certainly be a massive move for the most famous name in the sport to make but, when one also considers the enormous financial reward on the line, it perhaps becomes more understandable.
Three-time world champion Mark Williams recently made a similar move and the prize money on offer for the Heyball Masters Grand Finals this year was an eye-watering $700,000.
This may be some classic pot-stirring from Ronnie O'Sullivan, but it seems as though he is at least considering a move away from snooker.
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