The coach of Conor McGregor 'tapped out' during a sparring session with snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan posted on his Instagram page. John Kavanagh, the legendary Irishman's trainer, enjoys getting physical inside the octagon himself.
The pair were filmed inside the cage and the Crucible icon impressively wrestled Kavanagh to the mat. Ronnie was then able to roll the coach onto his back, before proceeding to cinch in an armbar manoeuvre, which forced Kavanagh to submit. He captioned the clip: “Getting beat up by @ronnie,” who sported a cheeky grin after winning the exchange.
The seven-time snooker world champion is an advocate for keeping fit and daily runs are essential part of his fitness routine. “There’s no feeling like ticking along at 6:30-min/mile, in the forest, up and down the hills,” he told Yahoo Life in May. “It’s just a great way to start the day. That, to me, is proper running.” His running days began early in life after his father, Ronnie Snr, told him he had to, and in those days, it felt like a chore.
“He used to force me to go out,” says O’Sullivan. “He said, ‘You can leave school when you’re 15, but you have to keep fit. Healthy body, healthy mind.’ I never used to enjoy it, but I noticed it made me play better snooker. And I wanted to be as good as I could at snooker, so I kept it up.”
The older O'Sullivan gets, the more he values fitness as an essential for not only good health but to also prolong his snooker career. In his 2013 autobiography O’Sullivan referred to running as “my religion, my belief system” and it replaced the booze and drugs that had characterised large parts of his life until then and since joining his local running club in Woodford Green, he has not looked back.
“Running has kept the things that are important to me – my family, relationships and snooker – much more stable," he added. "I’ve noticed I don’t get so moody, there isn’t the same self-loathing. Running just makes me feel so much better about myself, which is good for everyone around me too.”
As well as his fitness, O’Sullivan has been very focused on nurturing young snooker talent and has just opened his inaugural academy in Singapore. The Ronnie O'Sullivan Snooker Academy (RoSSA) is housed in a 16,000 square-foot venue at The Grandstand, with 12 snooker and 16 pool tables. Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong graced the opening ceremony with O'Sullivan.
RoSSA will seek to develop a strong base of snooker players, and organise competitions where young talents can hone their skills before beginning a professional career. It is planning to hold 23 ranking events in 2022, and another 30 mini-tournaments.
"Rather than start our academy in the United Kingdom, where snooker is already well-established, we feel Asia is the future of the sport," said the Englishman. "Singapore, with its strong links to the rest of Asia and its reputation as a global city for events, will serve as a strong springboard for us to launch our plans.”
