Ronnie O’Sullivan has been knocked out of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters just hours after admitting he has been in “steady decline for five years”. O’Sullivan was defeated 6-4 by Chinese star Si Jiahui in the quarter-finals and has missed out on landing the £500,000 prize pot reserved for the winner.
O’Sullivan has struggled to find his best form in the Middle East and was forced to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the last 16 to beat Zhang Anda 6-5.
And he was second best in his last eight showdown as his opponent produced a composed display to see out the match.
O’Sullivan has clearly been unhappy with his performances in Saudi, despite thrashing Lei Peifan 5-1 in his first match.
And discussing his woes during an interview with Eurosport after his victory against Zhang, the 48-year-old explained: “I played better than I have been playing but still so many mistakes, so many unforced errors and just not good enough really, but I have to accept that’s what it is.
“I’ve been on a steady decline probably for five years, it’s just getting a little bit worse and worse, but you just try and hang on for as long as you can – it happens to everybody. It’s something you can’t probably correct, you’ve just got to accept it.
“That’s the frustrating thing. Normally, I feel like I put enough pressure on my opponents to force them to make mistakes.
“I’ve spent most of my career just feeling pretty much in control. I didn’t realise how much I was in control of matches until I’ve experienced not being in control of matches.
“It’s hard because I’m used to feeling a certain way in most games but I haven’t been for quite a while. I suppose I just have to accept it, it is what it is. That’s why I started playing left-handed – because I was getting so frustrated.”
And the Rocket also alluded to the fact that he could call time on his playing career in the near future as he added: “I just want to try and enjoy it. I ain’t got long left. I’ll be lucky if I’m in the top 16 within the next two or three years, the way I’m playing – seriously.
“You look at John Higgins, it’s just one of them – you can’t stop it. You’d like to [stop it] but it happens to everyone – [Steve] Davis, Jimmy [White], [Stephen] Hendry. It happened to John, it happens to everyone – every sportsman.
“You have an up and then you stay there for a while and then you have a gradual down. I just have to accept it. It’s not easy but if I want to keep playing the game I’m going to have to otherwise I’m just going to get frustrated with myself.”
