5 time World Snooker Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan has found himself in the spotlight again after he launched an attack on the next generation of players coming through.
O’Sullivan stated that “The standard of snooker is so bad that he” would have to lose and arm and a leg to slip down the rankings”. He beat Ding Junhui on Sunday 13-10 to set up a quarter-final clash with Mark Williams. However, O’Sullivan was having none of it in the interview and lost a an attack on the next generation of players stating “If you look at the younger players coming through, they’re not that good really”. He said that most of them would so well as amateurs or not even amateurs they’re so bad a lot of them.
Ronnie O’Sullivan just straight up brutal on the reason for his longevity in snooker pic.twitter.com/4bL5FAd1Cs
— James Dart (@James_Dart) August 9, 2020
O’Sullivan who was last crowned World Champion in 2013 continued, “A lot of them you see now, you think, cor, I’ve probably got to lose an arm and a leg to fall outside the top 50. So that’s why we’re hovering around – because of how poor it is down that end.” In the interview O’Sullivan also stated that “while he still playing snooker he wants to enjoy it”. Stating that he didn’t care if he won or lost at this stage is in career.
The man effectively known as “The Rocket” for his quick playing said he would rather the tournament in the K2 leisure centre in Crawley. However, O’Sullivan has described the venue as a “hellhole” in the past. He said, “To be honest I prefer the format of Crawley because it’s the best of seven, so it’s a quick in-and-out. “Here it’s a great venue but it’s bit hectic and a bit stressful. I’d rather take the Crawley option to be honest with you.”
The Wordsley born star raced into two frames clear with breaks of 87 and 73. However, his Chinese opponent responded with a break of 88 after O’Sullivan missed a black. O’Sullivan went into a 11-9 lead with a 60 break, only for Ding to make a break of 81. However, the Rocket then rolled off a century, with 117 and nearly made it two in a row in the next frame with a break of 93.
O”Sullivan will now face fellow veteran Mark Williams in the last eight.
