Ronnie O’Sullivan says ‘I haven’t got long’ left in snooker after ‘embarrassing’ defeat

Ronnie O’Sullivan says he “doesn’t have long” left in snooker after he suffered an “embarrassing” defeat by the world No 64 He Guoqiang at the English Open.

China’s He survived an O’Sullivan fightback to book his place in the fourth round at Brentwood courtesy of a 4-2 victory, his second of the season over the Rocket.

It was the low point of a disappointing season so far for the 48-year-old O’Sullivan, who is yet to reach a final in five tournaments. His best run was to the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters in July, where he was thrashed by Judd Trump 10-3.

“I’m awful, it’s embarrassing,” O’Sullivan said. “I miss so many balls. I can’t get away from it, poor, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve been missing balls for the last four or five years and every now and then I’ll miss a few less, maybe, and get a couple of results.

“I’m absolutely useless. Forget about the Worlds. I’m not even bothered to be honest with you, if I’m going to play rubbish I might as well play left-handed. Play left-handed and enjoy it, but be useless, or play right-handed, be useless and not enjoy it.

“I haven’t got long, I’m not going to deny it, I’m not playing well enough, there’s no point in even worrying about it. I’ve just accepted it now which is quite a nice place to be really.”

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O’Sullivan found himself trailing 3-0 after He edged a tight first frame and then took the next two with breaks of 78 and 77 respectively.

The Englishman’s response was concerted as he took the next two, in large part due to visits of 56 and 59, to edge his way back into the match, but the Chinese player head his nerve with a break of 50 in the fifth frame to go through.

The 24-year-old He was overjoyed with another major victory. “It feels brilliant to beat him again. It is an unreal feeling and like I am dreaming. I didn’t expect at all to win again,” he said.

“I think the key is to perform my best and to play my own game. I just needed to get rid of the fear attached to playing a top player like Ronnie. There were so many spectators here, all supporting him. It didn’t allow me to think of anything other than my own performance.

“The best thing I have learned over the past few months is how to play against top players and get rid of the fear and emotion of facing them. That is the most improved part of my game.”

Luca Brecel, world champion in 2023, survived a tense final frame to see off Anthony Hamilton 4-3 having fought back from 2-0 down to lead 3-2.

Elsewhere, John Higgins beat Andrew Higginson 4-1 and Jack Lisowski went down 4-3 to Xu Si, while Jamie Jones dispensed with Zhou Yuelong 4-0 and Anthony McGill beat Xiao Guodong 4-2.

England’s Ben Woollaston enjoyed a famous 4-1 victory over three-times world champion Mark Williams and Neil Robertson progressed by the same scoreline against Williams’ fellow Welshman Jackson Page.

Stephen Maguire achieved a 4-0 whitewash against Hungary’s Bulcsu Revesz, while Barry Hawkins beat Jimmy Robertson 4-2.

Earlier, world number three Mark Allen had been made to fight all the way for a 4-3 victory over Long Zehuang, and there were wins too for Ross Muir, Hossein Vafaei, Matthew Selt, Lyu Haotian, and Jiang Jun.

Additional reporting by PA