'I like criticism better than accolades' - Ronnie O’Sullivan admits to battle with perfection
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Updated 16/11/2022 at 19:14 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan made light work of Zhou Yuelong to reach the quarter-finals of the UK Championship. He made two centuries in the 6-0 victory at the Barbican Centre in York, as he bids for an eighth win in the event. Zhou looked all at sea against the star of the sport. Stream the 2022 UK Championship and more top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+.
Watch as O'Sullivan races to stunning century against Zhou at UK Championship
Ronnie O’Sullivan has said he still finds it difficult to accept that dips in form are part and parcel of elite sport.
O’Sullivan is the greatest to play the game, and won his seventh world title earlier this year.
But through the 2020/21 season, he lost in five finals and there were questions over whether he had lost his edge at the biggest moments.
He silenced those doubters by winning the World Grand Prix and World Championship last season.
O’Sullivan has started the current season in decent fettle, winning the Hong Kong Masters and Champion of Champions.
Despite being short of his best, he beat Zhou Yuelong 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the UK Championship.
O'Sullivan is not concerned about his form, as he feels his best stuff is bubbling under the surface.
“At the moment my bad is better than everyone else’s bad,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport. “No one has played well against me. If they did and I played to that level I would probably get beat
“With snooker I could start to play well at any point and then I'd be away again. I am not too worried, I just take what comes and be patient. It is a game of patience.”
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'At the moment my bad is better than everyone else’s bad' - O’Sullivan
O’Sullivan revealed he still finds it difficult to accept that dips in form are commonplace.
“I have learned that part and parcel of this game is that you can’t be great every day,” O’Sullivan said. “I still refuse to believe that but I believe it more and more now.
“I am a lot better at handling the realities that no-one can play well all the time, including me.
“I am a little bit better at not getting frustrated with myself, but it is still not easy as I thrive on playing well and cueing well.
“I would rather play well and lose than play bad and win. If I had a choice, I know a lot of people would think this is crazy, but winning is not all what it is cracked up to be.”
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Watch O'Sullivan close out victory over Zhou in style at UK Championship
O’Sullivan said that he is spurred on by criticism, as it inspires him to prove the doubters wrong.
“It is never always going to be a bed of roses,” O’Sullivan said. “But if you want to be in the game you have to accept the good with the bad.
“When I play snooker, I’d rather people say I am rubbish, I am bad. Then I feel alright.
“It’s when people start saying good things about me that I really struggle. At the moment people are saying good things about me and I don’t feel good about my game.
“There is a real disparity in what people say about me and the way I am feeling and what people are saying. I like criticism better than accolades.
“It is a little like living a lie.
“It was only a year ago people said I couldn’t win a tournament and could not handle the pressure. I was loving that, great, brilliant. I was back in that space. If they want me to stay down and don’t come back, don’t say that again.”
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Stream the 2022 UK Championship and more top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch Seventh Heaven, a two-part show about Ronnie O’Sullivan’s historic World Championship win last season, on demand now.
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