Snooker
Ronnie O’Sullivan Accepts His Time at Snooker’s Top Table is Coming to an End
Ronnie O’Sullivan acknowledges his decline in snooker performance, admitting his time at the top is nearing its end. The seven-time world champion reflects on aging, his struggles, and the pursuit of perfection despite dwindling form.
Image Credits: Tai Chengzhe/VCG via Getty Images
Ronnie O’Sullivan reckons he is finished at snooker’s top table.
The Rocket, 48, has dominated the sport for over three decades and won five big titles last season.
But the seven-time world champion, a record he proudly holds jointly with Stephen Hendry, believes his days are numbered.
Battling the Inevitability of Aging
Crowd pleaser O’Sullivan is struggling to cope with the “inevitable decline” in his performance and does not want to play past his sell-by date like other greats Hendry and Steve Davis.
O’Sullivan saw his hopes of winning the mega-money Saudi Arabia Master dashed with a 6-4 quarter-final defeat to Chinese upstart Si Jiahui.
“I just have to accept it’s finished for me really,” O’Sullivan admitted to SportsBoom.com.
“I’ve been on a steady decline for five years and it’s just getting worse and worse.”
“I’ve got to try and hang on and slow the inevitable decline that happens to all sports people.”
“It’s okay against certain players at a certain level, but at the level I’m used to playing at and kind of having a bit of a stranglehold on the game, it’s just not good enough. I have to accept that.”
“I’m happy that it’s happening at this age and not at 31, that’s the only positive.”
It’s not easy to accept because you still want to play, you still want to compete.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Avoiding the Fate of Past Greats
“I don’t want to do what a Hendry done, or a Davis done or what Jimmy’s done which is probably played on well past what they were capable of doing any damage in the game.”
O’Sullivan has long cemented himself as the greatest player to ever pick up a cue and is established as one of Britain’s best ever sportspeople.
But even with a CV littered with records — most major Triple Crown titles (23), most ranking titles (41), most maximum 147 breaks (15) and most century breaks (approaching 1,300) — the Chigwell ace is still plighted by his pursuit of perfection.
O’Sullivan, who has won two world titles in the past four years, added: “It’s hard because I’m used to feeling a certain way when I’m playing.”
“I’ve tried to figure out what’s going on. To be honest with you, I make so many mistakes now it’s gone beyond a joke.”
“It is what it is. I’ve just got to try and enjoy it because I haven’t got long left. I’ll be lucky if I’m in the top 16 in two or three years the way I’m playing.”
“You look at John Higgins. You just can’t stop it. You’d like to but it happens to everyone.”
“Every sportsman has an up, you stay there for a while, then you have a down.”
“It’s not easy, but if I still want to play the game, I have to accept it otherwise I’ll keep getting frustrated with myself.”
“Every now and again I’d like to play all right and maybe play for two or three years.”
But it’s tough. I don’t know how long I can keep going on playing the way I’ve been playing.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Chasing Perfection Despite the Struggles
O’Sullivan became the oldest winner of the UK Championship and Masters last season.
But he stressed silverware is not everything and what he desires above all else is to feel satisfaction in his performance.
“I don’t think winning a tournament will cut it for me,” insisted the Rocket.
“It’s about the fluency and the cueing. That’s more important to me than winning tournaments.”
“I don’t gain confidence from winning tournaments. If I did then I would probably be the most confident man on the planet because I won five tournaments last year, I don’t know how!”
“It doesn’t give me confidence because I wasn’t playing with any confidence.”
“I’ll never give in, and I’ll compete, but it’s exhausting and not the way I want to play.”
“Every now and again I’d like to play all right and maybe play for two or three years.”
“But it’s tough. I don’t know how long I can keep going on playing the way I’ve been playing.”
Shane is an experienced sports journalist with over a decade on the front line, covering everything from football to horse racing. A familiar face in the snooker pressroom, his work regularly appears in the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, and Daily Star, alongside SportsBoom.
While snooker is where many readers know him best, cricket is his true sporting passion, though he tends to keep that side of him separate from his professional beat.
A staunch traditionalist, he’s unlikely to share your enthusiasm if you believe The Hundred is the future of Test cricket.