WINNING NEWS: Following his most recent World Grand Prix victory, Ronnie O’Sullivan once again threatens to retire.
Following his most recent World Grand Prix victory, Ronnie O’Sullivan once again threatens to retire.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has once again questioned his snooker future after scraping into the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix in Leicester with a 4-3 win over Zhou Yuelong.
Just four days after his contentious eighth Masters success over Ali Carter, O’Sullivan admitted he was deriving little delight from continuing to cruise through tournaments with remarkable ease.
“I really have to think about whether I can continue feeling the way I’m feeling out there—I just don’t get any enjoyment from the way I’m hitting the ball,” O’Sullivan said to ITV4.
It seems like a lot of guessing, hard labor, and I have no idea where the balls are going.
The worst part is that you’re also succeeding in violent competitions. It would be simple for me to decide if I was playing with such energy and excitement every round.
With breaks of 67 and 107, O’Sullivan had comfortably taken a two-frame lead and appeared poised to build on it. However, in the next frame, he ran out of steam after missing a red to the top pocket on a break of 50.
Zhou, who had not defeated O’Sullivan in their five prior meetings, came back strongly, first with a 76 to cut the gap and then with a composed 102 to square the score and solidify the shift in momentum.
In their most recent meeting at the UK Championship in December, Zhou had overcome a three-frame deficit to force O’Sullivan into a final frame decider. After falling behind once more, Zhou responded with breaks of 65 and 66 to force the decider.
The Chinese player got in first and potted a red and black, but lost his chance to the middle and O’Sullivan swept up with elegance with a nerveless 90 to seal another seemingly disappointing win.
“It’s been happening like this for 25 or 30 years, so it’s nothing new,” O’Sullivan remarked. “I’ve struggled through it because it’s all I know and it’s the only thing I’ve ever known. It’s hard not to do this.”
“However, I won’t tolerate poor cueing; I would much rather cue well and lose than poorly and win competitions. I truly don’t get any satisfaction from it.
Gary Wilson awaits O’Sullivan in the final eight after the former defeated Tom Ford 4-2 in the Scottish Open.
