'He looks a different player' - Ronnie O'Sullivan impresses Jimmy White with start to the year at Masters 2022
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Published 12/01/2022 at 13:55 GMT
"He’s been here practising hard; it is good to see. It means he is enjoying his snooker and he has that winning formula. He looks a different player," Jimmy White said of Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Eurosport studio at the Masters at Alexandra Palace. Stream the Masters and other top snooker live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan made an impressive start to his Masters challenge with victory over Jack Lisowski, and Jimmy White feels the Rocket looks a different player compared to earlier in the season.
After winning the World Championship in August 2020, O’Sullivan went over 16 months without getting his hands on a trophy.
His battling win over Neil Robertson in the final of the World Grand Prix last month snapped that record, and his first outing since was his 6-1 win over Lisowski.
Those comments were in stark contrast to interviews over the past year in which he had said he was not concerned about winning.
It appears the hunger is back, and White feels that is a positive sign for the seven-time Masters champion.
“He said he’s the best player, has the best record at the Masters, come after me,” White said in the Eurosport studio in summing up O’Sullivan’s post-match interview. “There’s no talk of road trips.
He’s been here practising hard; it is good to see. It means he is enjoying his snooker and he has that winning formula.
“He’s showing that by winning the Grand Prix, the only thing missing since winning the World Championship…he’d been in five finals and winged it on natural talent.
“He’s been working hard, got the victory and that has cemented his confidence and he looks a different player.”
White feels O’Sullivan is reaping the rewards of some hard work behind the scenes.
“To win tournaments, especially the Triple Crown events, you have to put in the work and do everything right and he has done that for the last couple of months,” White said.
O'Sullivan faces Robertson in the quarter finals of the Masters on Thursday afternoon, with the match live on Eurosport.
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Stream the Masters and other top snooker live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.
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