"Snooker needs Ronnie"
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ByEurosport
Published 15/12/2006 at 13:15 GMT
Former World Champion Joe Johnson fears that snooker may have seen the last of Ronnie O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan dramatically walked out of his Maplin UK Championship quarter-final clash against Stephen Hendry after just five frames.
SNOOKER, Ronnie O'Sullivan
Image credit: Imago
The 31-year-old star insisted that frustration at his poor form prompted his actions and vowed to return to action "fighting stronger and harder than ever".
But 1986 World Champion Johnson believes that The Rocket's troubles run much deeper than he admitted - and said he hoped the sport had not lost another great character so soon after the sad loss of Paul Hunter to cancer.
"He obviously has something terribly wrong going on inside his mind," Johnson told eurosport.com.
"It could be that he feels he has let everybody down, that he says to himself: "That's it, I've had enough, I'm not going back".
"But I hope he hasn't packed the game in completely because snooker needs him.
"We have just lost a great player in Paul Hunter, and Jimmy White is no longer one of the main forces in the game.
"We need these type of players - and there are not may Ronnie O'Sullivans, are there?"
Johnson added that O'Sullivan's statement, released on Friday, failed to fully convince.
"His quotes seem manufactured to me," Johnson continued.
"They are not good enough excuses for walking out of the second biggest tournament in snooker.
"He has played badly before, lost heavily before, and not thrown the towel in. I think it is something more this time.
"I have played snooker for 40 years and there were plenty of times when I have wanted to walk out of a match. I'm sure every other player has felt the same at some point in their career.
"When everything is going against you and your opponent is on top, you hang in there and see it out, fight until the last ball. That is what we have been taught to do."
Johnson went on to say that he hoped O'Sullivan had close friends and relatives to talk to over the next few weeks.
"My first concern is for Ronnie, to see what brought all this on. I just hope he gets some help and gets himself sorted out. He needs to talk to somebody very close to him.
"I wouldn't like to speculate where Ronnie goes from here. Only Ronnie knows what Ronnie will do."
Joe Johnson will be commentating for British Eurosport during the UK Championships from York.
British Eurosport is available on Sky (Ch 410) and ntl:Telewest (Ch 521 )
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