'For any kids who love the game, who would love to consider a career down the road, would you have any advice?' That is what Hugh Cahill asked of Ronnie O'Sullivan on 2FM's Game On last night as their conversation came to an end.
O'Sullivan, who has been negative about the state of his sport recently, gave a genuine response.
Honestly. Don't do it. That's the advice I give to my son.
I would say: 'put your gear away, go and take golf up, take tennis up. Stay away from this game.'
It's bad for you. It's a very solitary sport. A very technical sport. It's a very mental sport. The sport is not what it was in the 80s.
It's a lot of hard work for maybe not massive rewards if we're looking at it economically compared to motorracing, tennis, golf, athletics.
I always tell my son and my daughter since they started playing snooker, 'Please tell me you're not going to play this for a living' and she said 'Oh no, I'm not' and I said 'Thank God for that'.
In November after no snooker players were included on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year nominees list, O'Sullivan called snooker a 'car-boot sale' compared to the Harrods-like shopping experience of other sports.
It's certainly remarkable to hear a sport's biggest name being so negative about it.
O'Sullivan did say that there's a chance snooker could turn its image around, though that could take three decades.
Maybe it 20 or 30 years it could do a u-turn and be a leading sport but at the moment it sort of props up all the other sports. It's not a main sport anymore. In the 80s, it was.
Snooker barely gets in the headlines these days. People watch it because they love it.
On Twitter, fellow snooker player Neil Robertson commented regarding O'Sullivan's remarks saying that when it comes to remuneration, unless you're in the world's top 20, you'd be better off working in fast food.
I wouldn't recommend this sport as a "career" while there is 128 on the tour either. Atm it's top 20 or you're better off flipping burgers https://t.co/aAr4XigCig
— Neil Robertson (@nr147) January 5, 2017
You can listen to Ronnie O'Sullivan on 2FM's Game On below.
