Will Ronnie O’Sullivan be back? Ask his dad

One man holds the key to the future of fallen snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan - his father, Ronald Senior. After 'The Rocket' crashed out of the World Championship at the Sheffield Crucible on Saturday, beaten 13-11 by the super-confident young upstart Mark Allen, he could hardly have been gloomier in his post-match interview.

He wasn't enjoying snooker any longer, he said... He had no idea why he bothered... His children made him happy, but not the game... This was the famously depressive Ronnie in his lowest gear. If his fans hadn't read a pre-tournament interview with the Guardian, they might have believed that the most brilliant snooker player of all time was about to call it quits.

Why he probably won't - at least not for another year - was revealed in that interview. Ronnie dreams of competing at the Crucible with his father in the audience. It has never been possible because Ronald Snr is still serving the life sentence he was given 17 years ago for murdering a bodyguard of the Kray twins.

In preparation for his full release into the community early next year, Ronald Snr has recently been allowed out of jail for weekends. However, under the parole rules, he was not allowed to travel up to Sheffield. Next year, if all goes well, he will be free to travel.

"Next April it'll be even better," Ronnie told the Guardian. "My dad will be there, at the Crucible, hopefully watching me defend my title in person. Wouldn't that be lovely?"

Well, thanks to Allen, Ronald Snr won't be watching his son defend his title - but he might be able to witness his boy having a crack at winning it for the fourth time.

O'Sullivan's defeat by 23-year-old Allen was a close thing: needing 13 games to go through, they were tied at 11-11. O'Sullivan was clearly off-colour, up one minute and down the next. He even came close to a maximum break in what might have been record time; but his long pots were just not going in. Allen cleaned up the next two games and Ronnie was out.

"He was better than me, while I was shit," O'Sullivan said later. "If Mark continues to play like that, he's got a great chance of winning the title."

Allen simply beamed: "That's the biggest win of my career."

O'Sullivan told the Guardian that he's given up booze and Prozac and now tackles his depression with early morning runs. "Running clears my mind, and gives me a reason to get out of bed in the morning." he said. His fans will be hoping he spent Sunday morning running like hell. ·