Ronnie O'Sullivan has no plans to retire from snooker despite admitting 'I've had enough' at World Grand Prix
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ByEurosport
Updated 19/01/2024 at 22:29 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan has no plans to bring down the curtain on his golden 32-year snooker career despite admitting he has fallen out love with the demands of the game. The seven-time world champion is enjoying one of his finest seasons after winning the Shanghai Masters, UK Championship and Masters titles, but said: "I'm quite happy, but I do find these tournaments and playing a bit of a struggle."
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Snooker GOAT Ronnie O'Sullivan has moved to quell fears he is thinking about retiring from the sport despite admitting "I'm not enjoying my snooker".
O'Sullivan won a 12th straight competitive match of the campaign with an assured display against Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson in the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix at the Morningside Arena in Leicester on Friday.
The seven-time world champion lost the first frame on the black to Wilson, but breaks of 68, 129, 78 and 58 saw 48-year-old O'Sullivan ease through 5-1 to secure a semi-final meeting with Ding Junhui on Saturday evening after Ding completed a 5-2 win over Zhang Anda.
It will be the 91st ranking event semi-final of O'Sullivan's career since he turned professional in 1992.
The world No. 1 has won the Shanghai Masters, UK Championship and Masters in a memorable campaign while also reaching the semi-finals of the International Championship, but confessed he is struggling for motivation.
"I'm always having to find reasons to play, saying I'll do it for this and that," he told ITV. "I've never thought I actually really want to do this.
"There have been moments I've been flying. And it's been great: And you think: 'I'm on top of the world'.
"There hasn't been enough good form. I feel like I've been playing on autopilot.
"I've been lucky to have had the last 10 or 12 years since I started working with [sports psychiatrist] Steve Peters.
"I feel very fortunate for that, but you get to my age and again there's always a reason to keep playing.
"There's lot of reasons to incentivize me to keep playing, but I'm not sure they're worth it anymore.
"I'm not saying I'm going to retire, because everyone says when are you going to retire, I never said that word, so don't quote me on that.
"But I'm not enjoying my snooker, no.
"It's hard to walk away from it when you are still winning.
"That niggling voice in the back of your head, that makes you think if I can get my game half right, I'll stroll tournaments."
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Former world No. 3 Neal Foulds and 1997 world champion Ken Doherty have suggested the time could be right for O'Sullivan to retire if he claims a record eighth world title at the Crucible.
O'Sullivan lifted the UK title for an eighth time with a 10-7 win over Ding Junhui last month, while his eighth Masters crown was claimed with a 10-7 victory over Ali Carter last SuSunday.
"It is not nice going out there and beating someone who really wants it," said O'Sullivan, who plans to take a break from the sport by missing the German Masters and Welsh Open.
"I don't feel good about because these guys are trying their n*** off. I feel bad beating people who really want it bad. It don't feel right.
"Who knows if the World Championship [will be his last]. That's the worst tournament for me out of them all.
"I don't mind the ones where nobody is watching. You don't have to do press. You can chip up, and play like a donkey, and nobody notices.
"At the big tournaments, everything is kind of scrutinised and you feel like you've got to try your n*** off.
"I do try, but I've just had enough of it.
"I feel quite happy, I'm happy in myself, but I find these tournaments and playing a bit of a struggle."
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