Desmond Kane has been asking the question to Stephen Hendry and Neil Robertson

Can Ronnie O’Sullivan end title drought at Wuhan Open as Stephen Hendry and Neil Robertson highlight key Rocket asset.

Ronnie O’Sullivan won the last of his record 41 ranking titles in January 2024 when he claimed the World Grand Prix. The snooker GOAT has appeared in three major finals since then, but has yet to end his 31-month trophy drought despite putting in the hours in practice ahead of the Wuhan Open.

O’Sullivan described himself as “a very poor snooker player at the moment” after losing to 6-4 to world No. 27 Noppon Saengkham in the second round of the China Open in Taiyuan last week.

Upon reflection, it was a defeat that was probably not that bad, with the inspired Thai potter also brilliantly seeing off Judd Trump (6-3), Shaun Murphy (6-4) and Zhou Yuelong (6-5) before losing the final 10-6 to Mark Selby.

O’Sullivan returns to the table when he opens his Wuhan Open campaign against Ashley Carty on Monday morning at 02:30 am…

The Essex player has come up short three times in finals, losing at the 2024 Tour Championship (10-5) to Mark Williams, last year’s Saudi Arabia Masters against Neil Robertson (10-9) and the World Open (10-7) to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in March.

O’Sullivan is not faltering through lack of preparation, with world No. 2 Robertson praising the work ethic of O’Sullivan during his run to the quarter-finals of the China Open.

“I was watching Ronnie O’Sullivan on the practice table the other day, he was there for three-and-a-half hours,” said the Australian.

“I was on the other table and I felt that if he is still putting the hours in at the age of 50, then I should be too.

“I feel I have done everything right for this trip, and it’s nice to get the results.“

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Fellow seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry feels it is only a matter of time before O’Sullivan comes good in a blue-chip event providing he can minimise the misses.

“I’m going to make a prediction: I think Ronnie will win a tournament this year. There will be a week when he just hits form,” said Hendry, speaking to World Snooker Tour.

“We know at his best he can produce unbelievable performances and if he can string them together, I think he will win a tournament.

“Which is not the greatest of predictions. He seems to be working his n*** off. He is pounding the practice table as soon as he is out of the tournament.

“All of a sudden he misses something you can’t believe out of nowhere, like John Higgins and Mark Williams, and it’s those unforced errors on easy shots which cost him.

“The concentration has to weaken a bit, the ability to keep that massive focus through a whole match or tournament, that has to waver as you get older.

“It is just natural. These easy misses and mistakes get punished more than they used to, Ronnie has always been quick to blame himself when he is not playing well.“

After Wuhan, the snooker roadshow moves back to the UK, with the British Open in Cheltenham and English Open in Brentwood.

I wish I had their confidence in such prediction … but, no, right now I can’t see it. That said, those two guys are/were professional snooker players and are multiple ranking event winners and former World Champions. They are probably better judges than me … hopefully they, and Ronnie, prove me wrong.

So far this season, Ronnie has played in two events, losing in round two both times, and on both occasions the player who beat him went on to reach the final. They were clearly playing very well. On both occasions, I feel that Ronnie showed some very good stuff in patches and could have won those matches, but was guilty of the odd mistakes that cost him dear. And it wasn’t even the hardest balls he missed either, and that kind of “silly” errors are typically caused by lapses in concentration. I’m not sure what the answer is if that is indeed the main issue. Time waits for no one …