Ronnie O’Sullivan described his performance as ‘useless’ and ’embarrassing’ as he was beaten 4-2 by He Guoqiang at the English Open on Tuesday night.
It was the Rocket’s first match of the event and it got off to a disastrous start as the Chinese won the first three frames, with breaks of 78 and 77 along the way.
O’Sullivan won the next two but He got over the line with another half-century to keep up his 100 per cent winning record over the Rocket, with two victories from two meetings.
As he has been doing this season so far, O’Sullivan played a lot of shots left-handed and when asked about his choice to do so, he told The Sun: ‘I’m absolutely useless, that’s why.
‘Forget about the Worlds. I’m not even bothered to be honest with you, if I’m going to play rubbish I might as well play left handed.
‘Play left-handed and enjoy it, but be useless, or play right-handed, be useless and not enjoy it.’
The 48-year-old has not had a bad start to the season by most players’ standards, with a semi-final at the Shanghai Masters and quarter-final run at the Saudi Arabia Masters, but he is far from happy with his game.
Despite winning five events last season, the seven-time world champion feels like his career is coming to an end with decline setting in.
‘I haven’t got long, I’m not going to deny it, I’m not playing well enough, there’s no point in even worrying about it. I’ve just accepted it now which is quite a nice place to be really,’ he said.
‘I’m awful, it’s embarrassing. I miss so many balls. I can’t get away from it, poor, but there’s nothing I can do about it.’
He was obviously thrilled to beat the legend of the baize for the second time since the start of the season after downing O’Sullivan 3-0 in the Championship League.
The 24-year-old now faces Stephen Maguire in the last 32 in Brentwood and will be full of confidence in the clash on Wednesday evening.
‘It feels brilliant to beat him again. It is an unreal feeling and like I am dreaming. I didn’t expect at all to win again,’ He said.
‘I think the key is to perform my best and to play my own game. I just needed to get rid of the fear attached to playing a top player like Ronnie. There were so many spectators here, all supporting him. It didn’t allow me to think of anything other than my own performance.
‘The best thing I have learned over past few months is how to play against top players and get rid of fear and emotion of facing them. That is the most improved part of my game.’
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