Ronnie O’Sullivan: If I could succeed Jeremy Clarkson and land my ideal position on Top Gear, that would be amazing.

CAR MAD snooker player Ronnie is putting himself up for the top BBC position as he prepares for the World Championships.

PETROLHEAD The goal of Ronnie O’Sullivan is to replace Jeremy Clarkson.

In addition, the Rocket has another profession outside of the baize in mind, even if his primary goal is to win a sixth Betfred World Championship title in Sheffield.

“I’d love to have the Top Gear job,” stated O’Sullivan. When the position opened up, I told my agency that I wanted it but wasn’t sure if I was qualified for it.

“I would be willing to co-pilot with someone else if it were possible. I’m not sure whether I would want to go in Jeremy’s direction, but I’ll let someone else get away with it for a while before pursuing it myself.

“I adore cars, so working with them would be my ideal job.” Because of his brilliance, Clarkson will undoubtedly be picked up by another TV network and given some kind of opportunity.

“He and I are similar in that there is always another door that can open if someone doesn’t want me.”

O’Sullivan has made appearances on two television shows: Channel 5’s Fifth Gear and the Top Gear guest series.

O’Sullivan continued, “It was really good [appearing on Top Gear]. It’s probably one of the best days we’ll ever have. Anything to do with cars is great, and Fifth Gear is great too.”

“After this World Championship, I hope to host my own vehicle show. We’re doing that with the Discovery Channel, so I’m extremely thrilled about doing that.

“I’m trying to dip my toe in and see where it goes, so I’m doing the Eurosport stuff and some other bits and pieces.”

In order to relax when he’s not potting balls on the grass, the five-time world champion has even leased an Audi Sports vehicle for his stay in Sheffield.

The Chigwell potter remarked, “I always like to drive Audis, and Audi has lent me a car to drive around the next couple of weeks.” It’s an RS7, so this is one mean vehicle. In the future, hopefully, I get to work with Audis a lot.

Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry, meantime, thinks Anthony McGill, a rising talent from Scotland, may win the Crucible this season.

Hendry has been thoroughly impressed with McGill’s performance thus far at the Crucible, particularly with the manner the Glaswegian cueman has adjusted to competing on the biggest platform in snooker.

According to Hendry, “He’s displaying tremendous temperament.” Hendry stated, “It’s his first time at the Crucible, and nothing seems to phase him.”

Although he’s playing well, I hope he can win more frames after his initial scoring opportunity.

As the competition goes on, he will need to do that more frequently if he is to win the World Championship.

The way he’s kept himself together has truly amazed me.

“Judd Trump is my favorite to win this year, but it’s going to get really interesting as the tournament goes on.”

John Higgins, the five-time world champion, will need to overcome a deficit on Saturday in order to maintain his prospects of winning the world championship.

In the last session of their second-round match, Higgins led 5-3 going into the break but ultimately lost 9-7 against Chinese cueman Ding Junhui.

And in order for the struggling Scot to maintain his hopes of winning the £300,000 first prize, he now has to win six of the next nine frames.

Higgins regained his two-frame lead with a run of 68 after Ding had won the first two frames of the session with a peak break of 80 to pull level.

But Ding, the past winner of the UK and the Masters, upped his game and made breaks of 66, 64, 92, and 59 to build a comfortable four-frame lead.

Mark Allen, an Ulsterman, leads previous Crucible finalist Barry Hawkins 5-3 going into his comeback on Saturday.

Allen narrowly prevailed in the first session with runs of 65, 63, and 96, despite Hawkins’ breaks of 76, 51, and 55.