Ronnie O’Sullivan’s SPOTY claim: 'I would have won it seven times if I played golf or tennis'

Ronnie O’Sullivan believes he would have won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award “seven or eight times” if snooker was recognised like golf or tennis. Speaking to promote his exclusive new Eurosport two-hour feature programme, Seventh Heaven, the Rocket revealed his frustration at missing out on the famous SPOTY gong during his illustrious career and said he was arguably Britain's most successful sportsman.

Ad O’Sullivan equalled Stephen Hendry’s haul of seven world titles after beating Judd Trump in the Crucible final in May, becoming the oldest player to win snooker’s biggest prize. SnookerExclusive: O'Sullivan on why he still wants his kids to avoid snookerYESTERDAY AT 05:41 His run in Sheffield saw him installed as the early favourite for SPOTY 2022, although he has since slipped off top spot following the Lionesses’ historic win at the European Championship on home soil.

“If it was taken on your achievements for what you do in the sport, I would have probably won it a few times by now,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport. “So to not even get in the reckoning, I sometimes question what is the BBC Sports Personality? What does it stand for? “If I can’t win it at least three or four times with the career I’ve had, then it probably doesn’t matter what I do.

“I could probably win every tournament, not lose a match, make 12 maximums and they would still find a reason to not give it to me. “I kind of think what’s the point of entering a race that you can’t win? So I don’t pay too much attention to it because I can’t think of any British sportsman that has dominated their sport, been as successful at their sport as I have.