The Masters: '8, 8, 8 - let's go for it' - Ronnie O'Sullivan targeting eighth crown at Alexandra Palace

Updated 07/01/2024 at 15:01 GMT

Ronnie O'Sullivan has his eyes set on an eighth Masters title as he gears up for the 2024 tournament at Alexandra Palace. The seven-time champion faces Ding Junhui on Monday, as the world No.1 seeks "the three eights" as he calls it: eight World Championships, eight UK Championships, and eight Masters trophies. He recently won his eighth UK Championship.

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Ronnie O'Sullivan is targeting an eighth Masters title as he gears up for the 2024 tournament at Alexandra Palace.

The world No.1 plays the 12th seed Ding Junhui on Monday, and O’Sullivan, who last won the tournament back in 2017, is out for further glory this year.

O’Sullivan lost to Judd Trump in his latest final appearance of this competition, beaten 10-4 in 2019, but The Rocket is hungry to lift his first Masters trophy in seven years this time around.

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He has, however, voiced some concerns about the atmosphere that is often stirred up around Ally Pally, and how it affects his focus.

“I'm really looking forward to getting into the business part of the season,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport.

“The Masters is hard because it's a bit rowdy and I don't really like the rowdiness. It is sort of like, if I was to go out on a night out, I would choose a quiet place where I could just sit and relax.

“Playing snooker in a rowdy atmosphere is like my worst nightmare, but you have to get your head around it, go out there, perform, play and try to block it out in some sort of way. You kind of get in your own little bubble. I find it quite difficult but you know, you have to adapt.”

O’Sullivan’s recent form has been excellent, having just won his most recent UK Championship, although he pulled out of the Scottish Open “due to medical reasons”.

The tournament before, he lost in the semi-finals of the International Championship to Zhang Anda.

But as we enter a new calendar year, the sport’s top dog wants even more success in the Triple Crown events of the World Championship, UK Championship and Masters.

“Every time I play, I try to go in and play with a winner's mindset, it doesn't matter what the tournament is," he said. "I try to get as much out of that tournament.

“It's like a workout in a way; like this tournament is going to lead on to the next and the next [and so on]. So the more you apply yourself in each tournament, I think at some point, all that application will come out, but you don't know when it's going to come out.

“So I might have a disaster at the Masters, but as long as I go there and I give 100%, then I think at some point the reward will pay off and it might be another tournament somewhere down the line, maybe the World Championship.”

O’Sullivan is the man with the most Masters titles in the tournament’s history, but he wants to push his current figure of seven up one more.

He said: “It was nice when I had 7, 7, 7, and now I’ve got 7, 7, 8. So it'd be nice to go 8, 8, 8 - the three eights.

“I suppose that’s the sort of motivational thing to try and get another Masters, try and maybe get another Worlds. I said I was happy with one World Championship, one UK, one Masters; over the moon.

“So, when we start talking about going beyond that, I sort of just see everything as just a bonus really; a nice bit of icing on the cake.

“8, 8, 8 - let’s go for it.”

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Stream the 2024 Masters live on Eurosport and discovery+.

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