Ronnie O’Sullivan’s rivals speak out on his absence from tournaments

For snooker’s biggest star, Ronnie O’Sullivan has played a relatively minor role in the story of this season and his rivals do not think the main character is being missed too much.

The 50-year-old has not been totally absent, playing in eight tournaments so far this campaign, but he has opted out of more events than he has entered.

Form struggles have also made this a quiet campaign for the Rocket, with early exits at the likes of the UK Championship, International Championship and recent World Grand Prix.

There has really just been one standout run, which came at the Saudi Arabia Masters in August where O’Sullivan made the final, only losing in a deciding frame to Neil Robertson.

The semi-final in Jeddah was even more memorable than that epic final thanks to the Rocket’s two 147s in a win over Chris Wakelin.

However, that was his highlight in an otherwise dull campaign, which could not spark into life at the Players Championship last week or the ongoing Welsh Open as the Rocket chose not to enter either.

World number one Judd Trump says that players are now entirely used to O’Sullivan not being around and feels he should not rush back, given his recent performances.

‘No, I don’t even think about it,’ said Trump at last week’s Players Championship. ‘It’s not until you mention it that I realise that he’s not here.

‘I just think he’s an amazing player, but the way he’s played recently, he’s been quite poor. So I think it’s better for him to take that time out and when he’s willing to put the work in and whatever it is…I think he’s still struggling with his cue as well.

‘I don’t think he’s found the right cue from what I’ve see him play, he’s nowhere near. The mistakes he makes he never made with his old cue, never.

‘And I think obviously the more you get older and the less he plays, the less sharp he’s going to be and it’s just going to get harder and harder.

‘So, I think it’s going to be difficult for him now. Ronnie can turn it on at any point, but I think he’s a little bit more vulnerable.

‘He used to be invincible against some players and he’d just have to turn up and they’d kind of crumble, wouldn’t they? Now it just doesn’t seem that that happens as much. People are a lot more comfortable playing him.

‘But I’m sure there’s going to be one tournament in the next year or two where he’s going to be unbelievable and he’s still capable of amazing things.’

Similarly to Trump, John Higgins feels it has become normal for a tournament to be without the Rocket, but any appearance he does make should be appreciated.

‘To be brutally honest, he’s not playing really a lot now,’ said Higgins. ‘So I think all the guys just enjoy him now, when he does appear, you know what I mean?

‘But he’s obviously got different things going on in his life, and he can’t be around forever. So just enjoy him while he’s still playing some events.’

‘I think it’s still too reliant on Ronnie. It’s mind-boggling at times’

Mark Allen does feel that having the Rocket in a field brings an added excitement to an event, but snooker has the ideal opportunity to create new stars as the seven-time world champion slows down his schedule.

However, the Pistol does not think enough is being done to push new talents into the limelight.

‘It is what it is. Ronnie’s just at that stage of his career,’ said Allen. ‘He’s always going to do what he wants to do. I think the good thing for the game in general is that it’s becoming more common, so it’s giving the events a chance to be popular without Ronnie.

‘I think there’s no doubt there’s a better buzz when he’s involved. I absolutely love playing him. The crowd and stuff, that’s basically what we started playing snooker for, to play in those types of matches.

‘But it’s up to WST and the media guys to really push the rest of the tour now because Ronnie probably doesn’t have a lot of years left and we have to try and create the next superstar.

‘I think it’s still too reliant on Ronnie. It’s mind-boggling at times, I understand he’s the big name in the sport, I completely get that, but you’re not going to create the next Ronnie O’Sullivan in the media if you don’t give them a chance.

‘There’s a lot of people that have been doing really well in recent years that haven’t got the coverage they deserve.’

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