'I've found it pretty tough all my life' - Ronnie O'Sullivan on snooker struggles following poor Masters display

Published 11/01/2024 at 17:39 GMT

Ronnie O'Sullivan was in low spirits despite his 6-3 win over Barry Hawkins in the Masters quarter-final. The Rocket, who is searching for an eighth Masters title, was far from his brilliant best but produced better moments than his opponent as he sealed his place in the last-four. The Rocket apologised for "dragging" Hawkins down to the "most awful standard of snooker"

Dejected O’Sullivan reflects on ‘horrible’ match against Hawkins

A dejected Ronnie O'Sullivan apologised for what he described as "the most awful standard of snooker" shown during his 6-3 win over Barry Hawkins in the Masters quarter-final.

The Rocket is through to his 15th Masters semi-final as he seeks an eighth title – but he made hard work of it during a match that was littered with errors from both players.

O'Sullivan – who has detailed ambitions of winning the Masters for the first time since 2017 – couldn't find his rhythm as an 86th century in the Masters remained elusive. Fortunately for the seven-time world champion, Hawkins was even more wasteful.

Snooker

Robertson impresses on opening day of season at Championship League

10/06/2024 at 21:09

Speaking to Rob Walker immediately after the match, an honest O'Sullivan was apologetic. He said: "I just feel sorry for Barry. He was playing good until he started playing me, I just dragged him down to the most awful standard of snooker. I’m really sorry about that! I’m just lucky to get through."

'I'm really sorry about that!' - O'Sullivan apologises for 'awful standard of snooker'

O'Sullivan had a few minutes to gather his thoughts as he made his way to the Eurosport studio, but his outlook wasn't any brighter when chatting with Jimmy White, Reanne Evans and Radzi Chinyanganya.

Having been asked how difficult snooker can be when performing poorly, O'Sullivan responded: "Awful, horrible. It's a tough game, I've found it pretty tough all my life, to be honest."

Analysing a forgettable match, Jimmy White reflected on how poorly Hawkins played.

He said: "Barry Hawkins will be so disappointed because I think he was in shock by how many mistakes O’Sullivan made and how many opportunities he had. Barry missed loads of balls, he could have been 4-2 up.

"He was getting opportunities thick and fast but couldn’t really deal with them - Ronnie was struggling. Barry didn't capitalise on them and he'll be devastated."

O'Sullivan will be hoping for an improved performance when he meets Shaun Murphy or Jack Lisowski in the last-four.