As much as he had enough of Milton Keynes before Christmas, Ronnie will play in the 2021 Masters, and, speaking to Phil Haigh, he explained why. He didn’t miss it last year, but he feels that a too long post-Christmas break may have impacted his game negatively last season.
Regarding the crowd, he’s a bit in two minds. He appreciates to be able to concentrate solely on his snooker, without all the demands, and sometimes hassle, coming from the fans and the media, but, on the other hand, he reckons that he may need the pressure generated by the fans’ expectations to be able to perform at his best.
Ronnie O’Sullivan returns to the Masters next week (Picture: Getty Images)
Ronnie O’Sullivan is back at the Masters this year after skipping the 2020 event, feeling that decision cost him his form and rhythm at the start of last year.
The Rocket disappointed his fans by sitting out last year’s Masters and choosing to work as a pundit for Eurosport during the event instead.
Pulling out allowed Ali Carter to step in and the Captain made it all the way to the final, where he was beaten by Stuart Bingham at Alexandra Palace.
However, he is back and will take on Ding Junhui on 13 January at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, when he will look to win his first tournament since lifting the World Championship title in August.
The 45-year-old feels that missing the Masters, along with the Christmas break and not travelling to Europe at the start of 2020 really cost him in terms of form, and he is eager not to make the same mistake again.
‘I don’t know because I didn’t miss it last year,’ O’Sullivan told Metro.co.uk of his decision to return to the Masters.
‘I just think, I was playing well towards the end of last year and I probably would have done okay at the Masters if I’d have played.
‘Then I missed that and I was looking forward to playing but I missed the German [Masters], I missed the Austrian Open [European Masters] so I ended up not playing for six or seven weeks.
‘Then when I did come back I was still playing well but I was so off the pace that it took me two tournaments to feel like a player again and get back where I was in December.
‘So I thought, rather than that happen again, let’s just try and carry some momentum forward and now I’ve got four or five tournaments to play before the World Championships so that’s enough for me.’
O’Sullivan made no secret of the fact that he preferred the World Championship in 2020 with no crowd at the Crucible for the majority of the tournament, due to the added stress of dealing with fans at events.
He also claims this has been a big problem for him at the Masters in the past.
‘For this year’s [2020] World Championships, there was no visitors, no guests, no one at the stage door, I could get in and out of Sheffield and I’ve never felt so relaxed there in my life,’ O’Sullivan told Pete Cohen’s Mi365 Podcast. ‘It wasn’t snooker, it was the stuff that surrounds certain tournaments. That was the reason I didn’t play in the Masters, because it’s a huge circus there.
‘London, the Masters is a no-no for me, if I never played in that again I wouldn’t be disappointed.’
O’Sullivan is bidding for an eighth Masters title this year (Picture: VCG via Getty Images)
O’Sullivan still appreciates the simplicity of a tournament at which he only needs to play snooker and do little else, but the months without fans at events appears to have changed his tune.
The world champion has played in more than enough behind closed doors events and is looking forward to the return of crowds as soon as possible.
‘It allows me to just go there and play snooker, enjoy it, it simplifies it I guess,’ he explained. ‘The Masters, the UK Championships, the World Championships, a lot of people want to come watch, you end up having to deal with stuff you don’t want to deal with. So this makes it all easier.
‘But I think it would have been nice to have a crowd, I think we need a crowd.
‘Some players have really adapted to it well, but I think it’s nice to play in front of an audience, it’s been a while now so looking forward to at some point getting a crowd back in.’
O’Sullivan not only wants a crowd for the return of an atmosphere at events and the excitement that brings, but he feels it will help his performances.
The Rocket won his sixth world title last summer in impressive fashion, but he is yet to get his hands on another trophy since then.
O’Sullivan picked up his sixth world title in August (Picture: PA)
He has impressed at times, reaching two finals, but also turned in some below-par performances at the Marshall Arena, where tournaments have been held this season.
With that motivation disappearing, and without the intensity of a crowd, he feels his game has suffered.
‘I obviously have a lot less to prove, I don’t have anything to prove,’ Ronnie explained. ‘But I think with that loss of fear, I’ve always said that fear drove me on to want to play well and to put the extra hours in, to devote myself to snooker.
‘When you do that you get such tunnel vision and for the last five years I haven’t had that approach.
‘It’s worked for me, in a way, I’ve been much more relaxed, but I think you get to the point where maybe that intensity isn’t there enough of the time.
‘I don’t know if it’s lack of crowds but I just feel like I’m missing the odd ball I wasn’t missing before. Against 95% of the tour I might get away with it, but the three guys: Neil Robertson, Judd Trump and Mark Selby, I’m just not going to get away with it against them.
‘Against all the other guys I will and have got away with it but If I’m to compete with them three then I’ve got to erase them errors.
‘Maybe crowds coming back might change that I don’t know. It is harder for certain players to play in front of no crowd, sometimes you need that bit of pressure to kick you into gear.’
10 thoughts on “Ronnie speaks to Phil Haigh ahead of the 2021 Masters”
I’m glad Ronnie’s playing, but I think that a draw of Ding, Higgins/Allen, and then probably Trump followed by probably Selby/Robertson gives him virtually no chance of winning, especially if he continues to have no access to a practice facility.
at least don’t parrot the complete bs excuse that he has nowhere to practice. believe me, if he really wanted to, he could. take that to the bank.
Yes… he could pay for it, but even if he wanted, he couldn’t get it delivered and installed by fitters in the current circumstances. And that’s provided that his house has a suitably big room, aith a floor that can take a weight of 2 tons 1/2. YOU should stop the bs really. And being a bit kinder in general wouldn’t hurt you either.
again, no. I have yet to hear Federer moan about the lack of tennis courts, or Tiger Woods about the lack of golf courses. you know exactly that professional sport is going ahead everywhere in the world in spite of restrictions. it is ridiculous from the best-known player in the game. it is just not true. it would be one phonecall for him and he could practice anywhere he wanted. as much as I like Ronnie, we all know he doesn’t always tell the truth
Well that’s simply not true, and the comparison doesn’t hold. Golf courses are outdoors, a lot of tennis courts are as well. Snooker is played in smaller, much more confined spaces. The table and all the equipment must be sanitised after each match/practice session, because players actually touch them with their hands. Ronnie is not the only one struggling with practice facilities., just, maybe, the highest profile one. Judd and Neil Robertson can practice at the Grove. Judd has his own private room there. Ronnie used to practice at the Grove too, but as he is no more managed by Django Fung, I doubt that he has access to the academy right now,
see that’s where the nonsense starts. he could ring up Django whenever he wanted. what u think, he would say “sorry Ronnie, you can’t”…jesus
Yes, he would. Because, you see, when Trump or Robertson do well, Django gets a share of it, when Ronnie does well, he gets nothing, even worse if he happens to beat them! And that’s not even mentioning that he might be in breach of the law, as this is an academy, not a club potentially open to everyone.
jesus christ, no. I am 100% percent sure he could go there and hit balls whenever he wants. as if practicing was a legal issue. if you think Ronnie’s bargaining positions are the same as ours, you are just plain wrong. he is rich and powerful beyond belief, everybody knows that. you are actually coming up with excuses for Ronnie not to put any work in
You’re wrong. And there is no point even discussing it because you know nothing but are convinced that you know everything. I know personally both Ronnie and Django, and Django is a businessman first and foremost and a shrewd one. He’s probably much richer than Ronnie … who BTW isn’t rich “beyond belief” . Do you realise that in his whole career, he’s won less than Djokovic in one season? And I’m speaking just about prize money here. I’m fed with your ignorant agressions.
well as far as I’m concerned this is a Ronnie fanblog, written by a Ronnie fan, you. now could you imagine that, since you bought it up, a Djoković-fanblog would come up with excuses for why Novak shouldn’t even try practicing? We, Ronnie fans want him to practice. if not at Django’s place than anywhere else. actually you are the one who pretends to be still an insider, from the snooker hotspot of Greece. and I am in no way ignorant and and aggressive, I am saying exactly what 99% of Ronnie fans think. it is sad that the leading fanblog doesn’t urge him to make a change
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
I’m glad Ronnie’s playing, but I think that a draw of Ding, Higgins/Allen, and then probably Trump followed by probably Selby/Robertson gives him virtually no chance of winning, especially if he continues to have no access to a practice facility.
at least don’t parrot the complete bs excuse that he has nowhere to practice. believe me, if he really wanted to, he could. take that to the bank.
Yes… he could pay for it, but even if he wanted, he couldn’t get it delivered and installed by fitters in the current circumstances. And that’s provided that his house has a suitably big room, aith a floor that can take a weight of 2 tons 1/2. YOU should stop the bs really. And being a bit kinder in general wouldn’t hurt you either.
again, no. I have yet to hear Federer moan about the lack of tennis courts, or Tiger Woods about the lack of golf courses. you know exactly that professional sport is going ahead everywhere in the world in spite of restrictions. it is ridiculous from the best-known player in the game. it is just not true. it would be one phonecall for him and he could practice anywhere he wanted. as much as I like Ronnie, we all know he doesn’t always tell the truth
Well that’s simply not true, and the comparison doesn’t hold. Golf courses are outdoors, a lot of tennis courts are as well. Snooker is played in smaller, much more confined spaces. The table and all the equipment must be sanitised after each match/practice session, because players actually touch them with their hands. Ronnie is not the only one struggling with practice facilities., just, maybe, the highest profile one. Judd and Neil Robertson can practice at the Grove. Judd has his own private room there. Ronnie used to practice at the Grove too, but as he is no more managed by Django Fung, I doubt that he has access to the academy right now,
see that’s where the nonsense starts. he could ring up Django whenever he wanted. what u think, he would say “sorry Ronnie, you can’t”…jesus
Yes, he would. Because, you see, when Trump or Robertson do well, Django gets a share of it, when Ronnie does well, he gets nothing, even worse if he happens to beat them! And that’s not even mentioning that he might be in breach of the law, as this is an academy, not a club potentially open to everyone.
jesus christ, no. I am 100% percent sure he could go there and hit balls whenever he wants. as if practicing was a legal issue. if you think Ronnie’s bargaining positions are the same as ours, you are just plain wrong. he is rich and powerful beyond belief, everybody knows that. you are actually coming up with excuses for Ronnie not to put any work in
You’re wrong. And there is no point even discussing it because you know nothing but are convinced that you know everything. I know personally both Ronnie and Django, and Django is a businessman first and foremost and a shrewd one. He’s probably much richer than Ronnie … who BTW isn’t rich “beyond belief” . Do you realise that in his whole career, he’s won less than Djokovic in one season? And I’m speaking just about prize money here. I’m fed with your ignorant agressions.
well as far as I’m concerned this is a Ronnie fanblog, written by a Ronnie fan, you. now could you imagine that, since you bought it up, a Djoković-fanblog would come up with excuses for why Novak shouldn’t even try practicing? We, Ronnie fans want him to practice. if not at Django’s place than anywhere else. actually you are the one who pretends to be still an insider, from the snooker hotspot of Greece. and I am in no way ignorant and and aggressive, I am saying exactly what 99% of Ronnie fans think. it is sad that the leading fanblog doesn’t urge him to make a change