Ronnie O’Sullivan has no plans to bring the curtain down on his golden 32-year snooker career, despite admitting he has fallen out of love with the demands of the game.
The seven-time world champion is enjoying one of his best seasons after winning the Shanghai Masters, British Championship and Masters titles, but said:
“I’m quite happy, but I find these tournaments and the game a bit difficult.
“Snooker GOAT Ronnie O’Sullivan has allayed fears he would quit the sport, despite him admitting “I don’t like my snooker”.
O’Sullivan won his 12th consecutive championship match on Friday with a confident performance against Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson in the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix at Leicester’s Morningside Arena.
The seven-time world champion lost the first frame on black to Wilson, but with breaks of 68, 129, 78 and 58, the 48-year-old O’Sullivan came through 5-1 and secured a semi-final meeting with Ding Junhui.
Saturday night later Ding recorded a 5-2 win over Zhang Anda.
It will be the 91st semi-final of O’Sullivan’s career since he turned professional in 1992.
The world No. 1 won the Shanghai Masters, the British Championship and the Masters in a memorable season, also reaching the semi-finals of the international championship, but admitted he was struggling with motivation.
“I always have to find reasons to play, saying I’m doing it for this and that,” he told ITV. ‘I never thought I would actually want to do this.
“There were moments when I flew. And it was amazing: and you think, ‘I’m on top of the world.’
“There wasn’t enough good form. I feel like I’m playing on autopilot.“I’ve been lucky enough to have the last 10 or 12 years since I started working with [sports psychiatrist] Steve Peters.
“I’m very lucky for that, but when you get to my age, there’s always a reason to keep playing.””There are a lot of reasons that motivate me to continue playing, but I’m not sure they’re worth it.”
“I’m not saying I’m retiring because everyone says when you retire, I never said that word, so don’t quote me on that.”“But I don’t like my snooker, no.“It’s hard to get through it when you’re still winning.
“That nagging voice in the back of your head makes you think that if I get halfway through my game, I’ll be competing in tournaments.”
