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While some of the game's finest choose to indulge in hobbies that are as pedestrian as snooker itself, others like to participate in something little more high octane.
Over the years we've seen a string of snooker pros pop up in various other disciplines, so we thought we'd run through some of the more interesting extra-curricular pursuits by the sport's top players.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
As you'd expect from a player nicknamed "Rocket," Mr. O'Sullivan doesn't like to sit still for too long when he's not at the baize. Famously impatient when he’s playing and always eager to get things over quickly, O'Sullivan is reportedly a huge racing fan. Whether it's in one of his finely tuned sports cars or on his own two legs, the snooker genius is all about speed.
Back in 2004 O'Sullivan appeared on the BBC's Top Gear and posted a time of 1:47.3 around the show's test track which was good enough to rank him as the fourth fastest driver at the time. As well as burning rubber on the track, O'Sullivan is also a keen runner and has posted some impressive long-distance times, including a 34 minute 54 second 10km race time.
Ken Doherty
In contrast to Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ken Doherty prefers to spend his time away from the snooker table in a more relaxed atmosphere. As far back as 2007, Doherty has been a part-time poker player with surprisingly good results. Despite only taking to the world of No Limit Texas Hold'em after the game boomed in the early 2000s, Doherty has earned almost $100,000 in tournament prizes.
Although he's not quite earned as much as snooker's oth poker converts - Steve Davis ($118,251) and Jimmy White ($157,000) - Doherty did manage to win two televised events featuring an array of sportsmen.
Stephen Hendry
We couldn't put together a list of snooker players and their hobbies without mentioning the game of golf. Stephen Hendry is probably one of the best amateur golfers to emerge over the last few years. Having played the game for more than a decade, Hendry is a regular at many of Scotland's top courses and reportedly has a handicap below ten (certain reports indicate it's around four).
Not only that, but due to his status in the snooker world, Hendry has appeared in numerous televised golf events alongside the likes of Dennis Taylor and Willie Thorne. In fact, Thorne has gone on record as saying that he's played the game for the last 20 years and out of all the snooker players he's faced, Hendry is one of the toughest.
We all know that it takes a huge amount of skill to reach the top of the snooker world and, thanks to some extra dedication, the game's finest have also managed to take these attributes and successfully apply them in other arenas. Enjoying more success than many members of the general public normally would, it seems that snooker is the perfect breeding ground for a number of other pastimes.
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