At the World Grand Prix in Leicester, Ronnie O’Sullivan raised doubts about his snooker career once more with his 4-3 victory over Zhou Yuelong to advance to the last eight.
This week, world No. 1 O’Sullivan is aiming to win his 41st ranking event championship.
Despite his record-breaking eighth Masters victory on Sunday, he is not pleased with his present condition.
“You’re winning tournaments, which is the worst thing,” O’Sullivan said on ITV4.
“It would be simple for me to decide if I was playing with such energy and excitement every round.
I really need to think about if I can continue to feel this way since I’m not enjoying the way I’m hitting the ball. I feel like a lot of it is guesswork, I have no idea where the balls are going, and it’s simply hard labor.”
After defeating Tom Ford 4-2 at the Scottish Open, O’Sullivan will now play Gary Wilson in a best-of-nine quarterfinal after breaking through with breaks of 67, 107, 50, and a match-winning 90 against Zhou of China.
O’Sullivan threatened to resign from snooker in November due to a disagreement with the sport’s regulatory body if he had to spend less time in China.
Though he has cut back on his workload this term, he now has the chance to win all three of snooker’s Triple Crown tournaments in the same season for the first time in his career thanks to victories in the UK Championship and Masters.
Since it’s all I know and what I do for a living, I’ve battled through it because it’s the only thing I’ve ever known.
“However, I won’t tolerate poor cueing; I’d much rather cue poorly and lose than poorly and win competitions. I honestly don’t get any satisfaction from it.
“I’d give everything I’ve got to enjoy the game but I have not had that for a long time.”
Zhang Anda of China defeated defending champion Mark Allen 4-2 in the meantime.
Zhang started off strong, winning the first three frames with a run of 95. Allen answered with an incredible break of 137. Before Zhang completed his victory, the Northern Irishman also won the fifth frame.