UK Championship 2020 - 'The scoreline flattered me': Ronnie O'Sullivan says he deserved to lose

ByThe Editorial Team

Updated 30/11/2020 at 10:34 GMT

Seven-time UK Snooker Championship winner Ronnie O’Sullivan made no excuses following a 6-5 second round defeat to Alexander Ursenbacher in the UK Championship on Sunday, going as far as to say he should have lost by a heavier scoreline. “My performance just wasn’t good enough to beat someone who plays that well,” he said.

Seven-time UK Championship winner Ronnie O’Sullivan thought he should have been beaten by a heavier scoreline after his surprise 6-5 second round loss to Alexander Ursenbacher in Milton Keynes.

His Swiss opponent was on the front foot at the start, going on to lead 3-1, but the Rocket came back to eventually lead 5-4, before Ursenbacher took the match in a final frame decider.

"I don't think I've ever come off a match thinking 'If I deserve to lose I've probably lost' and that's how I felt out there”, O’Sullivan told Eurosport after the match.

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I thought I did well to get five frames, the score flattered me. It should have been 6-1. I just dragged him down to my level and he probably got to 5-4 and he probably thought he was playing the better snooker.

Despite an out of sorts performance, O’Sullivan was not interested in making excuses: “There’s no way I should have got five frames, he had so many chances to put me away and he didn’t - really, he was the much better player, my performance just wasn’t good enough to beat someone who plays that well”.

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Ursenbacher displayed his usual aggressive style, but the six-time world champion thought he was more restrained than usual.

“I thought he was quite conservative today, I was more of the aggressor and he was trying to keep things tight”, said O’Sullivan.

He swings, if he was a boxer you’d have to be ducking all the time because if one of them hits you it’s like bombs - he can play.

O’Sullivan will immediately switch his focus to the Scottish Open, which is also taking place at the coronavirus-secure Marshall Arena from 7 December.

“I haven’t got time to be disappointed, I’ll be back here Monday!”.

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