Ronnie O’Sullivan speaks out on ‘worst thing I’ve ever done in snooker’
'Worst thing I've ever done in snooker and I've done some bad things in snooker before!'
Ronnie O’Sullivan says a change he made to his game a number of years ago by working with a coach was the worst thing he’s done in his snooker career.
The Rocket is into the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship, the first event he has played in since January after taking a break from competitive action.
The 49-year-old has picked up comfortable wins over Ali Carter and Pang Junxu, but he is not happy with his game, describing his 13-4 victory over Pang as ‘hell’ as he wrestles with his technique.
Speaking to the BBC after the victory, O’Sullivan said: ‘I got messed up by a coach and it’s just about trying to unravel and I’m not sure I can. It’s really difficult.
‘I feel so unconfident. It’s horrible, it’s horrible even when you’re playing alright, but let alone when you’re struggling.’
Asked what he is looking to improve as he rebuilds his game, he said: ‘I don’t even know to be honest. It’s just a feeling.
‘A safety shot I played there, I hit is so thick I can’t even see where I’m hitting it. It’s just guess work. Then you try something else and the shot looks different again.
‘In the balls I was alright tonight because what I’ve changed felt alright, but there’s so many different parts of the game that you’ve got to get right.
It’s hell, to be honest with you.’
Having pointed the finger at a coach, the Rocket was asked for more details in a post-match press conference and while he would not reveal who he is talking about, he considers it the worst decision of his career.
‘I’m not going to say who it is, I don’t think it’s fair to say who that is,’ he said. ‘But it’s probably the worst decision I’ve ever made in my snooker career, in hindsight.
‘I did it because I wanted to improve, you always want to improve, but if I could turn the clock back I would. Worst thing I’ve ever done in snooker and I’ve done some bad things in snooker before!’
Asked when he realised that the change to his game was a negative one, O’Sullivan pinpointed his quarter-final defeat to Luca Brecel in the 2023 World Championship.
‘I think when Luca beat me here, when Luca beat me I really realised then,’ he said. ‘I thought “wow” but I thought I could play my way out of it, but for two years I haven’t.
‘When I won this in 2020 I wasn’t great but I was playing alright in spells, so thought “ok, that’s cool.” Then since Luca gave me a good hiding here it’s just been awful really.’
O’Sullivan was 10-6 ahead of Brecel in that Crucible quarter-final, but lost 13-10, collapsing in the final session.
O’Sullivan may be feeling uncomfortable with his game but he is into the quarter-finals and favourite to beat Si Jiahui in the last eight.
He is very much a contender to lift the title on May 5, which would be his eighth World Championship, but he feels he will have to significantly improve if that is to happen.
‘I’ll have to play a lot better, I know that,’ he said of his title chances. ‘I’ll have to start playing a lot better.
‘I’ll have to start potting a few long ones, start pinning them to the back rail a bit more. Just improving in them areas really.’
