Ronnie O’Sullivan says he’s starting to feel more skillful and is interested in winning an eighth world championship this year at the Crucible.
It has been a very successful season for the Rocket, winning five more titles, but he has not always been completely happy with how he has been playing.
Always looking for perfection, the top-ranked player in the world says he is having difficulty finding good form, even though he has won the UK Championship, Masters, World Grand Prix, Shanghai Masters, and World Masters of Snooker this season.
This is actually a fair assessment, since the Rocket has not been consistently playing at a very high level during those events, only occasionally showing exceptional skill to defeat opponents who are struggling to find their own best form against the GOAT.
Nevertheless, worryingly for other players at the Crucible, the 48-year-old says he is ‘starting to play alright’, which could mean he is actually playing extremely well.
‘Lately, I’ve started to play alright and so I’ve started to feel interested in the job,’ O’Sullivan mentioned Sky Sports.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if I win, but, at the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised if I lost in the first round. Snooker can be unpredictable.’
The seven-time world champion turns 49 in December but has shown no sign of slowing down, in fact, he feels he might be a more complete player than ever.
There is definitely a possibility that the Rocket could continue to win the sport’s biggest prizes into his 50s, believing he has at least one more world title in him.
‘I still think I’ve got another one or two world titles in me. As long as I feel young around the snooker table, age is just a number,’ he said.
‘I thought I was finished at 35, but I’m still going at 48. I’ve still won a lot and I’m still [world] No 1, which is a bit of a miracle in itself.
‘I’ve been going at it a long time and I still feel like I’ve got another five, six, seven good years in me. Who knows, as long as I’m still having fun and enjoying it.’
The Rocket plays against 22-year-old Welshman Jackson Page in his first round at the Crucible this year, with the match starting on Wednesday.
