Despite a challenging season, Ronnie O’Sullivan is still holding strong in the world rankings as he approaches what could be the latter stages of his illustrious career.
However, he faces the risk of sliding down the rankings unless he can finish this season on a high note, particularly with a strong performance at the World Championship. This is due to the fact that he will be defending a substantial amount of prize money under the two-year ranking system.
Having missed several ranking tournaments this season for health reasons, including the German Masters and the Welsh Open, O’Sullivan currently sits 24th on the World Snooker Tour’s one-year list. His last competitive appearance was at the Championship League in January, where after smashing his cue in frustration, he withdrew before his final group match.
The Rocket is now set to make a comeback at the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong, which kicks off next week. As O’Sullivan nears his 50th birthday, the snooker world is left wondering how much longer he will compete at the highest level.
In September, O’Sullivan himself acknowledged a decline in his abilities, despite having just completed an impressive season with victories at both the UK Championship and Masters for the eighth time, reports the Express.
The Essex ace emotionally remarked that he had been in “steady decline probably for five years” and said: “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.”
The snooker legend opened up about his future in the sport, underlining that enjoyment of the game, rather than chasing titles, is his focus now. “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,” he said.
“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.”
O’Sullivan’s rival, Judd Trump, shared his perspective, encouraging people to savour O’Sullivan’s presence in the game. “Because Ronnie is starting to miss more events, people realise that they might not see him that much longer.
“Maybe now is the time to appreciate what you have taken for granted for the last 20 or 30 years. When he’s missing an event, everyone notices.”
Looking towards the future, Trump speculated on O’Sullivan’s potential retirement and remaining time at the green baize: “You’re probably looking at the last five years of knuckling down and going for it. To be honest, it could be any point where one more World Championship and maybe he calls it a day.”