Ronnie O’Sullivan was surprised when he boarded the Finnair plane at Heathrow Airport in London.
English snooker superstar Ronnie O’Sullivan arrived on Monday morning at Helsinki-Vantaa airport, from where his journey continued with a car ride towards Tampere.
O’Sullivan will play an exhibition match against his compatriot on Monday night Gary Wilson in the sold-out Tampere building. The duo will also perform at the same venue on Tuesday and Wednesday.
O’Sullivan’s first visit to Finland is a carefully planned operation that started with a surprise already at Heathrow Airport in London. After O’Sullivan had boarded the plane, the plane’s captain walked up to the star to introduce himself.
– I am the captain of the plane. Welcome to the Finnair flight. I also acted as a judge in the evening.
The presenter was a flight captain for almost 20 years and currently also works as a professional snooker referee Sami Erkkilä. He told about the incident over the phone on the way to Tampere.
According to Erkkilä, O’Sullivan was surprised by the welcome.
– What? Really? Erkkilä said that the seven-time world champion was the first to say the surprise.
Later in the flight, O’Sullivan got into the cockpit to watch as the plane landed at Helsinki-Vantaa under the guidance of Erkkilä.
When the plane had landed and parked, the most successful snooker player of all time took a selfie with Erkkilä and published it on his Instagram page.
O’Sullivan’s ride was no accident.
– It was my own idea. I hoped from the schedule planner that I would get this gig, Erkkilä said.
O’Sullivan traveled in business class with his manager by Jason Francis with, but the star arrived on the plane without any special arrangements.
– Shall we say that he came right among the rest of the crowd, Erkkilä said in a humorous tone.
The flight landed in Helsinki-Vantaa as scheduled at 12:20 p.m. Judged by Erkkilä, the first show match between O’Sullivan and Wilson in the 1,900-seat Tampere house starts at 8 p.m.