‘Absolutely mustard’ – Snooker legend strongly disagrees with Ronnie O’Sullivan’s verdict on how he’s playing
Ronnie O’Sullivan has been praised by a fellow world champion after reaching the last eight at the Crucible. The Rocket set up a quarter-final clash with Si Jiahui by beating his compatriot Pang Junxu in the second round. O’Sullivan has been hailed for his ‘absolutely mustard’ displays in SheffieldGetty The Rocket had been critical of his performance after reaching the last eightGetty It followed an opening stage victory over Ali Carter at the World Snooker Championship. O’Sullivan was critical of his own performance after beating Pang, though, as he labelled he experience ‘hell’. The seven-time world champion explained: “I feel so unconfident. It’s horrible, even when I’m playing alright. “In the balls, I was alright tonight, but there are so many different parts of the game you’ve got to get right. It’s hell. “It’s not even about winning, it’s about going there and being confident enough to just do yourself justice. It’s nice to win but you just want to be part of a good game.” However, John Parrott disagrees with the snooker icon and has hailed his ‘absolutely mustard’ displays so far. The 1991 world champion told Breakfast: “Ronnie sets himself very high standards. “In his 13-4 victory against Pang, he had 12 breaks over 50. So he’s winning in one visit as well. Close in, he still looks absolutely mustard. “I mean, his cue ball’s as good as anyone on the planet. One or two long balls, which he’ll work on. “But he’s got a new cue as well, because the last time he played out in January in the matches, he smashed his cue after the game because he wasn’t too happy with what was going on. So he’s still getting used to that in tournament play. O’Sullivan is making his return after four months away from the tableGetty The seven-time world champion is eyeing a record eighth titleGetty “And the fact that he got over the first match, I agree entirely with what Jimmy (White) said before, is that the first matches blow away the cobwebs and he’s getting stronger.” O’Sullivan had not played competitively since January before his match against Carter last week. Following his withdrawal from the Championship League four months ago, he has pulled out of a string of tournaments on medical grounds. His absence from the table saw O’Sullivan drop down the season rankings due to a lack of action. As a result, he failed to qualify for the Players Championship and Tour Championship in the lead up to the World Championships. O’Sullivan returned in time to mount a charge for a record eighth world title in Sheffield, though. His quarter-final clash with Si gets underway on Tuesday afternoon with the opening session. The winner will face either Zhao Xintong or Chris Wakelin in the last four later this week.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has been praised by a fellow world champion after reaching the last eight at the Crucible.
The Rocket set up a quarter-final clash with Si Jiahui by beating his compatriot Pang Junxu in the second round.
It followed an opening stage victory over Ali Carter at the World Snooker Championship.
O’Sullivan was critical of his own performance after beating Pang, though, as he labelled he experience ‘hell’.
The seven-time world champion explained: “I feel so unconfident. It’s horrible, even when I’m playing alright.
“In the balls, I was alright tonight, but there are so many different parts of the game you’ve got to get right. It’s hell.
“It’s not even about winning, it’s about going there and being confident enough to just do yourself justice. It’s nice to win but you just want to be part of a good game.”
However, John Parrott disagrees with the snooker icon and has hailed his ‘absolutely mustard’ displays so far.
The 1991 world champion told Breakfast: “Ronnie sets himself very high standards.
“In his 13-4 victory against Pang, he had 12 breaks over 50. So he’s winning in one visit as well. Close in, he still looks absolutely mustard.
“I mean, his cue ball’s as good as anyone on the planet. One or two long balls, which he’ll work on.
“But he’s got a new cue as well, because the last time he played out in January in the matches, he smashed his cue after the game because he wasn’t too happy with what was going on. So he’s still getting used to that in tournament play.
“And the fact that he got over the first match, I agree entirely with what Jimmy (White) said before, is that the first matches blow away the cobwebs and he’s getting stronger.”
O’Sullivan had not played competitively since January before his match against Carter last week.
Following his withdrawal from the Championship League four months ago, he has pulled out of a string of tournaments on medical grounds.
His absence from the table saw O’Sullivan drop down the season rankings due to a lack of action.
As a result, he failed to qualify for the Players Championship and Tour Championship in the lead up to the World Championships.
O’Sullivan returned in time to mount a charge for a record eighth world title in Sheffield, though.
His quarter-final clash with Si gets underway on Tuesday afternoon with the opening session.
The winner will face either Zhao Xintong or Chris Wakelin in the last four later this week.
