Rocket Ronnie expects to remain grounded rather than winning eighth world title
O’Sullivan will face one of his oldest foes first up.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has painted a bleak picture of his chances of clinching a record-breaking eighth World Snooker Championship title and claims first-round opponent Ali Carter will start as favourite when he gets his 33rd Crucible campaign underway on Tuesday.
O’Sullivan has not played on the World Snooker Tour since he stuffed his cue in a bin after crashing out of the Championship League in January, and after a turbulent time on the practice table he left his participation in doubt until the eve of the tournament.
The 49-year-old believes he is still counting the cost of a rash attempt to change his playing style, and says he has come to the “scary” realisation that he might never recover the form that has seen him universally acclaimed as the best player in the history of the game.
O’Sullivan said: “I tried a new technique six years ago and I think it’s completely stopped me from playing how I used to, and I don’t know how to get back to somewhere near how I want to play.
“I’m not sure it’s fixable at this stage of my career, but I will give it a couple of years to try and rediscover a way of playing where I feel like I can hit the ball. At the moment it’s pretty scary – the white ball is doing things I’ve never seen it do before.
“I’ve lost that instinctiveness and what I’m seeing when I’m down on the shot is not good. Everyone has days when they lose their timing but when you compound that over a four-year period it’s quite hard – where do you start to put it right?”
O’Sullivan has routinely talked down his chances of winning world titles, most notably when he took a year-long break after beating Carter in their second final in 2012, only to return after 12 months out to roar to win it in 2013.
But having opted to miss a number of major ranking tournaments this season, including the Masters in January, there is a sense that O’Sullivan’s latest concerns are rather more justified.
O’Sullivan says he has fellow seed and former runner-up Barry Hawkins to thank for hauling him up to Sheffield to give it another shot.
“I was a bit bored a month ago so I got my cue out of my case and I thought, just practice,” added O’Sullivan.
“Obviously I got to this tournament and Barry gave me a little bit of support. I had a couple of practice sessions with Barry and he gave me a good hiding which I expected. But Barry told me, you’re not playing as bad as you think you are.”
O’Sullivan’s draw against Carter risks reigniting the famous feud between the two former practice partners, with the pair having barged shoulders during their match in 2018, while O’Sullivan insisted Carter had to “sort his life out” after beating him in last year’s Masters final.
But the ‘Rocket’ struck a more conciliatory tone on Friday, insisting: “Ali’s a brilliant player, he’s had a couple of good seasons and he’s found some form again. You probably have to make Ali favourite going into this game, but if I can try to make a game of it that would be great.”
Reigning world champion Kyren Wilson gets this year’s action under way on Saturday when he plays to a finish against Lei Peifan, one of a record 10 Chinese players in the draw. Former winners Mark Williams and Neil Robertson are also in action on the opening day.
