'He could never look boring if he tried' - Ronnie O'Sullivan urges Jack Lisowski to play smart snooker

Updated 04/03/2022 at 18:28 GMT

Jack Lisowski is still in with a chance of winning his first title after beating Ali Carter in Newport on Friday to advance to the semi-finals of the Welsh Open. The way he battled back from two-frames behind to win 5-4 impressed Ronnie O'Sullivan, who feels Lisowski needs be smarter in his choices at the table.

O'Sullivan urges Lisowski to 'be more clinical' after Welsh Open comeback

Ronnie O’Sullivan has said the titles will flow for Jack Lisowski if he finds a balance in his game.

Lisowski is one of the most talented players in snooker, but is still to win a title and has often fallen short on the back of poor decision making.

He showed steel and silk to beat Ali Carter in the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open, and O’Sullivan was impressed with how he fought back from 4-2 down to win 5-4.

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O’Sullivan feels Lisowski needs to rein in his talent, keep control of the situation and make the right choices.

“If he can play a bit like that more often he will definitely win tournaments,” O’Sullivan said in his role as a pundit for Eurosport. “All it needs is to control that talent.

“It can run away with you, you can get so confident and going too fast and thinking too far ahead - instead of becoming more clinical: one ball at a time, one ball at a time.

“The flair will then come, the victories will come and the tournaments will come.

“Sometimes you have to play that style of snooker to win.”

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O’Sullivan does not want to see Lisowski deviate from his natural game, but feels he needs to make better decisions.

“He could never look boring if he tried,” O’Sullivan said. “You have two ends of the spectrum, the really slow and boring and really exciting. The slow and boring one has to speed up and the really fast one needs to rein it in a little bit.

“It’s not possible for Jack to not look good.

“A bit like a swan with its legs flapping under the water, that’s what Jack looks like a lot of the time. It looks great, but inside he’s feeling he has to play his best snooker to win when he needs to try and learn to cruise along a bit more.

"You don’t want him to play like Mark Selby. You want him to play like Jack Lisowski, but when you are in the balls and have those opportunities, don’t miss anything silly.

“It’s about taking what’s there, keeping it tight. Don’t try and bust the balls open at every opportunity. Nick a few out.

“He’s a creative player so is better off if the balls go scrappy as he can make a break from nowhere.

"When you have that snooker brain, use it.”

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