opinion

The 2025 English Open – Day 5 … and an interesting interview with Neil Robertson

Monique opinion, Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament ,

This is WST report on what happened in Brentwood yesterday

BetVictor English Open Day Five

Shaun Murphy produced a phenomenal burst of 457 unanswered points to beat Zak Surety 4-0 at the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.

The Magician was on the cusp of a historic display and total shutout. He fired in three century runs of 125, 135 and 133 in the opening three frames to blitz to the verge of victory. However, two misses in the fourth did allow Surety to get eight points on the board.

Murphy was aiming to join Neil Robertson, who was the only other player to win a best of seven with four centuries and denying his opponent a single point. The Australian achieved that feat in 2013 against Ahmed Saif.

Although Murphy didn’t achieve that feat, it was an emphatic triumph for the Englishman. He recently lost his place in the top 16 of the Johnstone’s Paint World rankings for the first time in 19 years. On this evidence it won’t be long until he’s back, he now faces Fan Zhengyi.

Murphy said: “One of the negatives of me also having a broadcast career is that I am aware of these types of moments or stats. I know that 4-0 with four centuries and without my opponent scoring a point is special.

“It is the performance that you dream of. When you practise for all of those hours you dream of playing like that in front of a crowd like tonight.”

Mark Selby scored a comprehensive 4-1 win over Liam Highfield to get his bid for a third English Open crown underway.

Selby’s victory in 2022 saw him beat Luca Brecel 9-6 in the final. It was a momentous triumph for the Leicester cueman, who was battling mental health struggles away from the table and hadn’t lifted silverware for 19 months on it.

Today’s encounter saw Highfield claim the opening frame, before breaks of 52, 101 and 103 helped Selby to four on the bounce and the win. He now plays Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan.

Selby said: “It was huge to win in 2022. There would have been positives if I’d lost the final, but I’d probably not have seen it that way. When you lose a final it is raw and tough to take. Having won that and turned a corner was a huge asset for me mentally. I think going forward it was important to my snooker career.”

Belgium’s 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel scored a nerve shredding 4-3 win over Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei. Next up for Brecel is Si Jiahui.

Robbie Williams stunned Kyren Wilson 4-2 to book his progression and a meeting with Pang Junxu.

As always all the detailed results are available on snooker.org

I don’t have much to add as, for once, the matches featuring in the report are those I watched. Kyren Wilson had a bad day in office and Robbie Williams can play. Of course he can … all those who qualified for the main tour can play at a very high level

Other than that, Phil Haigh shared a very interesting interview with Neil Robertson

Neil Robertson hopes player power brings more transparency from snooker chiefs

Neil Robertson hopes increased player power can help provide more transparency on how snooker is funded.

The Professional Snooker Players Association (PSPA) has emerged as an independent players’ union, with four-time world champion John Higgins as its chairman and with a string of big names involved.

It is early days for the new association, but they have outlined a number of issues they want to address with World Snooker Tour (WST) and the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), mainly surrounding player welfare.

There is concern that the PSPA will clash with the established powers that be, including WPBSA Players, the existing players board, of which Robertson is a member.

However, the Australian has dismissed the idea of infighting becoming an issue between the players and welcomes the new association.

‘I don’t see that happening,’ Robertson said of potential clashes. ‘The (WPBSA) Players board is very small. It’s myself and a handful of others.

‘As far as I know, there’s meant to be a meeting between us to see how we can move things forward and do the right things for the players and for the game. Watch this space, I suppose.’

On whether he could be a member of both WPBSA Players and the PSPA, he said: ‘I’m not too sure what I am allowed to do or not allowed to do, but I’m not completely opposed to the idea at all. I think the Players Board is very good for what it does, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I think the players should have more power.’

Robertson was motivated to join WPBSA Players to help resolve a number of issues he sees in the game, one of the most significant being more transparency on revenue streams in the sport.

The former world champion feels players should be made aware of the finances surrounding television and sponsorship deals, so they can better understand the way the sport is funded.

‘The main thing is players want a lot more transparency with what’s going on,’ he said. ‘When there are these massive deals that are happening, the TV deals etc, I think that the players are certainly within their rights to find out how much these deals are actually worth.

‘When Barry Hearn took over, we were just so grateful to be playing the sport again and to be playing in a lot of tournaments. But that doesn’t mean that the players should be blind to all these deals and sponsorship deals that are coming into these events.

‘That’s probably one of the big issues is that the players just want to know, okay, the prize money breakdown is this. How much was actually contributed by the promoter or the sponsor?’

Another major alteration that Robertson wants to see is around scheduling of tournaments as he feels the calendar should be organised with geography more firmly in mind.

Chinese events are not played consecutively on the calendar, chiefly because promoters want them separated in order to stand out and be more prestigious, but Robertson feels other factors are more important.

‘The scheduling, long-term, is something I want fixed,’ he said. ‘I don’t want us bouncing all over the world. There’s jetlag, but not only that, players are having to pay out double or triple the travel expenses that we really need to. That could be condensed.

‘I’m sure we could get a situation where the calendar is better structured in and around the Asian events and then we work our way back to the UK.

There’s no reason to fly to Shanghai and all of a sudden you’ve got a week gap out of nowhere. Then you go into Saudi and then you go back to UK, then you’re going back to China again. Then you’re going back to UK and then you’re going back to China again.

‘It’s too much and there aren’t many sports which put that kind of demand on players. Just because a promoter says that they want it this way, I don’t think is really enough.

‘These kinds of things we’re trying to get done and change. A bit more empathy towards the players and their travels and all these sorts of things.’

The “bold” highlight is my doing because I feel this is very important ant it’s something I have been saying for years. The players health and wellbeing should come first and bouncing back and forth through time zones isn’t contributing positively to them. and Also, if one does not want to have weeks of “qualifiers” one after another, and then months without a thing for some players, it would force WST, WPBSA and China to accept that events are played in one go, from round one with all 128 players involved at or close to the main venue. Just like the current English Open is right now. That is how it should be. And I will add, there should be a “Mainland Europe” group of events as well, with Belgium, Germany and Poland as obvious candidates to host some tournaments. Scandinavia should certainly be considered too.

…

Stephen Hendry’s Top Five

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Stephen Hendry was asked about his snooker “Top Five” and here is his answer, as shared by WST:

Hendry Names All-Time Top Five

Stephen Hendry names his all-time top five players in the latest episode of Snooker Club podcast. Download the episode NOW on Apple, Spotify, Linktree or wherever you get your podcasts.

Seven-time World Champion Hendry was asked to pick his top five. He said: “I’ll put Ronnie O’Sullivan top, obviously because of the success he has had, but also for his cue ball control which is the best I’ve ever seen. 

“He is an artist with the cue ball, I love watching him making breaks, maybe when the black and pink are out of commission and there are balls on cushions, when he is at his best he still finds a way to clear the table. Also his safety game – he never plays a safety shot plain ball, he is always using side to manipulate the cue ball. And under pressure, his bottle is unquestionable. 

“After that, it’s very close between Mark Williams and John Higgins, I’d prefer to have them joint second. I’ll go with Mark just because of his recent record against John at the Crucible. He is a freak of nature, he has the best temperament of any sportsman I have seen. He maybe hasn’t got the cue power of others, but he has great touch and he is just a brilliant potter. 

“Third is John – maybe the greatest match player of all time. If I had to pick a player to clear up from 50 behind with five reds left, I’d take John. He has made over 1,000 centuries and his scoring is phenomenal.

“Mark Selby is fourth, he is one of all time greats. In terms of ball striking, not many are above him, the work he gets on the cue ball. He has the tactical game and he can win when not as best. I hated playing him, he’s so tough. 

“In fifth could be Judd Trump because of what he has won and his centuries, but he only has one world title. So I’m going for Steve Davis based on his utter domination of the 1980s. People will say that the players weren’t as good back then, but I don’t care. He’d still be in the top 16 today. He was the ultimate winning machine and I learned a lot from him.” 

Stephen Hendry (2).jpg

Judd will not be happy. He will say that he treats every event with the same respect and all credits to him for doing that but the World Championship with its longer format remains the benchmark by which a player is judged by someone like Hendry and one can’t argue with the fact that it poses a unique challenge.

At the 2025 Crucible … Day 1

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Kyren Wilson , the defending Champion, bowed out of the tournament on the opening day …

Here is the report shared by WST:

Debutant Lei Stuns Wilson As Crucible Curse Strikes Again

Kyren Wilson became the 20th first-time Crucible champion to fail to defend the title the following year as he suffered a dramatic 10-9 reverse against debutant Lei Peifan on the opening night of the Halo World Championship.

…

In a match of momentum swings, Wilson won six frames in a row to lead 6-2, then lost seven in succession to trail 9-6, before a late fight-back, only to lose the decider. Having conquered the Crucible 12 months ago, it’s a massive blow for the 33-year-old who had high hopes of retaining the title after a prolific season in which he has won four trophies. Wilson becomes the eighth first-time Crucible champion to lose in the first round the following year, and it ends a streak of nine consecutive years in which he has reached at least the second round.

Early Exits

First time champions to lose their opening match the following year 

Terry Griffiths 1980
Steve Davis 1982
Dennis Taylor 1986
Graeme Dott 2007
Neil Robertson 2011
Stuart Bingham 2016
Luca Brecel 2024
Kyren Wilson 2025

China’s 21-year-old Lei won his first ranking title earlier this season at the BetVictor Scottish Open, but said that tonight’s win was the biggest of his career so far as he rose to the occasion on his maiden appearance at snooker’s most famous venue. From 6-2 down, he hit his opponent with a barrage of high scoring, and after a late wobble he regained his composure to make an excellent break in the deciding frame. 

The world number 39, who nearly missed out on the Crucible as he had to come from 7-4 and 9-8 down to beat Gao Yang 10-9 in the final qualifying round, is through to the last 16 and will face Zhao Xintong or Jak Jones from Friday next week.

“It feels amazing. The Scottish Open was my first title and this was my Crucible debut — both moments are very special to me. The emotions were just as intense,” said Lei.

Lei trailed 6-3 after the first session but dominated from the start tonight, firing breaks of 50, 53, 60, 75 and 89 to take the first four frames and lead 7-6. After the interval, Wilson had the first scoring chance in frame 14 but made just 19 before missing a red to a top corner and Lei punished him with 69. Another Wilson missed red to a corner pocket early in the 15th proved expensive as his opponent compiled a superb 92 for 9-6.

World number two Wilson pulled one back with a break of 106. In the 17th, Lei was two pots from victory on a run of 60 when he over-cut the third last red to a top corner, and Wilson later cleared with 45 to close the gap to 9-8. Lei led 40-10 in the 18th when he missed a mid-range red and Wilson’s 60 drew them level.

Kettering’s Wilson had one clear chance in the decider but made just 14 before failing to split the pack off the blue. He later made a safety error and Lei’s tremendous break of 66 made him the first player to beat a defending champion in their debut match at the Crucible since Stuart Bingham knocked out Stephen Hendry in 2000.

Wilson said: “It’s really hard to take, it really hurts. Lei potted some incredible balls and held himself together in the end, he seems like a cool character and I wish him all the best. It has been a long season, I have done so much. I am proud of the way I have handled it and hopefully I have given you guys (the media) plenty to write about. We are all trying to grow the game, make it more popular and help the younger generation to see it as a great sport to get into.“

Lei added: “I didn’t think I had much chance when the draw came out. But the moment I stepped into the arena and saw the crowd, I just felt so excited. It really lived up to what I saw on TV all those years ago. I was definitely feeling pressure towards the end. I calmed myself down and told myself not to over-think — just to let go and play freely.

“I really enjoyed playing here – the crowd, the lighting, the whole atmosphere was amazing. I was fully immersed and happy throughout the match. In the deciding frame when the curtain came up, it felt like I was in a final. I used to watch that scene on TV when I was a kid – now it was real, I was actually sitting next to that table. It brought back so many childhood memories. And of course, it made me want to win even more – I’ve worked hard to get here, and I wanted to give something back to the fans and to myself.“

On the other table, Barry Hawkins took a 5-4 lead over Hossein Vafaei. World number 11 Hawkins, runner-up here in 2013, top scored with 93 in taking a 3-1 lead. After the interval, Iran’s Vafaei rallied with breaks of 56 and 123 to restore parity at 3-3. Hawkins pulled away again to 5-3, but Vafaei made an important 64 in the last of the evening to trail by just one frame overnight.

Kyren Wilson has been a fantastic World Champion all season, a great ambassador for his sport. Yesterday he came up short, just, against an inspired Lei Peifan. Lei is very strong under pressure, he showed that earlier this season, the way he won the Scottish Open, his first ranking title. Obviously, Kyren must be very disappointed right now but he should be proud of himself and of the way he represented his sport. I hope that, in a few days, he can see how well he did as a first time World Champion. Thank you Kyren.

Hereafter, the ES pundits, including Ronnie, discuss various topics, among other things, why/how the Crucible is special and Zhao Xintong’s as well as Judd Trump’s, Mark Selby an John Higgins’ chances. This was before the evening session . Zhao starts today…

Ahead of Zhao Xintong match today there was a lot of animosity on social media. I want to remind those people that Zhao was NOT found guilty of fixing any match, he was found guilty of not reporting intended “fixes” he was aware of as well as of betting on snooker as detailed in the relevant WPBSA statement.

Zhao served his ban, came back hungry, regained his tour card via an official route, and earned his invite via an official route as well. He deserves to be here.

The 2025 Tour Championship Day 5 and some more thoughts about the Ronnie situation

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Yesterday, John Higgins beat Barry Hawkins to book his place in the 2025 Tour Championship final.

Here is the report by WST:

Higgins Into 58th Ranking Final

John Higgins remained on target for a second ranking title within five weeks as he enjoyed a superb 10-7 victory over Barry Hawkins in the semi-finals of the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship.

From 5-5, Higgins pulled away to win five of the last seven frames, making three centuries to come out on top of a high quality contest. The Wizard of Wishaw is into the 58th ranking event final of his career, just six short of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record of 64. He will aim for a 33rd ranking title when he meets Mark Selby or Ding Junhui on Sunday at Manchester Central, with first to ten frames to capture the trophy and a top prize of £150,000.

After winning the Players Championship in 2021, Higgins went four years without a ranking title, and feared his days at the top table were over, particularly as he struggled to get over the line at the business end of key matches. But landing silverware at the World Open in China last month has made all the difference for the Scot, who turns 50 in May. One of the all-time greats, Higgins is now playing outstanding snooker, mixing heavy break-building with his granite tactical game, and most importantly he is finishing matches strongly. In this form, he will be one of the leading contenders at the Crucible. 

Having shared the afternoon session 4-4, Higgins took the opening frame this evening with a break of 66 to lead 5-4, before Hawkins levelled with a 125. The Englishman had two scoring chances in frame 11 but managed only 12 points and Higgins punished him with 73. Early in frame 12, Hawkins went for a thin cut red to centre but completely missed the object ball and went in-off, handing Higgins an opening which he took advantage of with a sumptuous 144 total clearance, his best of the season and the new target for the £10,000 high break prize.

A safety exchange with two reds on the table in frame 13 was resolved when Higgins escaped from a snooker but left Hawkins the opportunity to clear and close the gap to 7-6. A superb 130 from Higgins restored his two frame cushion, then he dominated a fragmented 15th frame for 9-6.

A missed red to centre was costly for Higgins in the 16th as his opponent made 99 to claw one back. But Hawkins’ break-off in frame 17 left a red close to a centre pocket, Higgins swept over the line with a 107.

“I would love to win this one and be a multiple champion this season, before we go to Sheffield,” said four-time Crucible king Higgins. “In the first session, Barry was hitting the ball well and looking superb, if he had gone 4-2 up he then could have gone 5-3 or 6-2, he was freezing me out. I was delighted to be 4-4, then I knew had to play better tonight, and I thought I played great.

“It was an amazing atmosphere, it reminds me of Alexandra Palace on a smaller scale. It’s an incredible venue and Manchester is a great city. I’m sure Sunday will be even better and I can’t wait.“

Hawkins, who had knocked out Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump, said: “It was a good match, I just had a few loose shots and John punished me heavily, he looked at the top of his game. It has still been a good week but I am disappointed right now.“

It was a good match but I’m deeply unhappy about the outcome. Those who know me, or read this blog regularly, know why. And, no, that’s not going to change ever unless new elements come to light that radically change my perspective on what happened in 2010.

Regarding the second semi-final, due to be played today, I don’t have a “favourite”. I like both players. I would be delighted to see Ding lift the trophy tomorrow but I think that Mark Selby is better equipped to stop Higgins.

Some more personal thoughts on the Ronnie situation …

This is nothing new but for clarity, here is what Ronnie said about his plans, as reported by the BBC :

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t made my mind up, I’ll probably make a decision on maybe 17 or 18 April,” O’Sullivan said on TNT Sports.

“I don’t know when I’m due to play my first match, so I’m going to try and leave myself as much time as possible.

“I’d love to be able to go there and play. I’d love to be able to have the confidence to be able to get my cue out and go and play snooker.

“I just need to give myself as much time as possible to see where I’m at with it, and see whether it’s something I’m going to be able to do.“

…

“It’s been a real struggle,” he added. “I’ve tried to play my way through. I’ve had moments and glimpses where I thought: ‘OK, this is OK.‘

“But on the whole, probably three-and-a-half years out of the last four have been pretty terrible for me and that’s kind of took its toll.

“I kind of got a bit tired. It kind of ground me down to the point where I kind of lost the love for the game.

“That’s why in January, I snapped my cue just in temper, in frustration. I don’t really want to feel like that, so I’ve taken time out. I am just gonna try and fix what I think is the problem before I come back to play serious snooker again.”

So? Ronnie won five titles last season and still feels like he’s been awful for the best part of the last four seasons? That may sound crazy but that’s what depression does to those who suffer from it and it rarely really goes away completely. Mark Selby has been open about that as well. Also, in my opinion, the collapse of his 13 years long relationship with Laila Rouass hasn’t helped. People close to them have reported that, despite the difficulties, there was still a lot of love between them. I’m not sure that, if true, this is making things easier. When a relationship ends in acrimony and bitter resentment, it’s ugly, but it makes it easier to walk away and start anew.

For me, the situation is this: Ronnie is struggling with depression, badly, and feels unable, psychologically, to cope with the demands of his sport. Also the huge expectations that always weigh on him whenever he plays aren’t helping. If that’s the case, not playing is the sensible decision, and definitely far better than walking out mid match like he did at the 2006 UK Championship against Hendry. Nobody wants to see that again.

Many fans are complaining and brandishing the “what if there is an empty session?”. I understand their concerns but as seed number 5, Ronnie is likely to be scheduled to play his first session on the third or fourth day of the tournament, or even earlier but that has happened only once recently. That leaves a bit time for WST to deal with the situation IF necessary. Usually, during the first week, most sessions feature a match that is in its first session and one that is in its second session. When one table “finishes”, the curtain is lifted and the whole Crucible can watch the other table. The only possible “disaster” scenario would be that the match due to finish during Ronnie’s scheduled “first session” is so one sided that only a couple of frames remain to be played. It could happen, of course, but it doesn’t happen that often and given the quality of the qualifiers this year, I would be surprised if we had many one-sided matches in the first round this time.

Where things stand regarding Ronnie…

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We are finally getting some news about Ronnie … it’s not great but the very fact that he decided to open up about his struggles is a positive. Here are two pieces reporting what Ronnie had to say about how he feels and what the situation currently is. Thank you Ben for sharing them in commentary.

It seems that we read and look up the same stuff …

In the “Daily mail” by David Coverdale

Ronnie O’Sullivan reveals the chances of him playing at the World Snooker Championship – and opens up on being at the ‘end of his tether’ with the sport

  • Ronnie O’Sullivan has not competed at a tournament since his January meltdown
  • The Englishman snapped his cue and said he was ‘burnt out,’ needing a break
  • Now he has given an insight into his mentality about the World Championship 

Ronnie O’Sullivan admits he still does not know if he will play at this month’s World Snooker Championship – and he will give himself until the day before the draw to decide.

The record seven-time world champion has not competed in a tournament since snapping his cue in anger at the Champions League in Leicester in January.

Explaining his prolonged absence for the first time, O’Sullivan said he needed to take a break because he was ‘burnt out’, revealing he had become ‘scared’ to pick up his cue because of how badly he was playing.

The 49-year-old has since returned to the practice table and is working with coach Gary Filtness to see if he can improve his form in time to make a comeback at the Crucible.

O’Sullivan has been given a provisional seeding of four for the World Championship which starts on April 19, with the draw taking place two days before.

But the Rocket told Mail Sport: ‘If you’d asked me three days ago, I’d have said, “100 per cent I’m playing”, because I found something, and I was like, “Wow, I’m hitting the ball good”.

‘The confidence came back and it lasted for three days, and I was like, “Oh yeah, I fancy it”. But then the last two days, it’s gone downhill. It seems to be one step forward, two steps back.

‘As I sit here, it’s highly unlikely I’ll play in the World Championship. But I’ve got some practice sessions booked in with a very, very good player who is in the top 16 on April 14th, 15th and 16th. So I’m going to give myself until that very last practice session to just see where my game is at.

‘If I think, “You know what, it’s all right”, I’ll probably play. But if it’s like it is today, it’s just not going to be pretty for me.

‘Obviously, I snapped my cue and I’m still trying to find a cue I’m comfortable with, which I haven’t yet been able to do.

‘I’d love to be back playing. I really, really would. Pulling out of tournaments ain’t good for me. It’s not what I want to be doing. I want to be out there competing.

‘The last three or four weeks I’ve been practising a hell of a lot. But at the start of the season I was getting scared to go near the practice table and getting scared to get my cue out of my case.

‘I got to the end of my tether with my game. Now I’m just focusing on getting that fixed because if I don’t get that fixed, there are no ournaments.’

And in “The Sun” by Rob Maul

OUT OF ROCKET FUEL? 

‘Couldn’t keep going on’ – Ronnie O’Sullivan undecided on playing Snooker World Championship and is ‘SCARED’ to practise

O’Sullivan admitted he still hasn’t found a cue after snapping his previous one

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN admits he has felt “scared” to go near a practice or match table during his enforced snooker break.

In an exclusive SunSport interview, the Rocket, 49, remains undecided if he will play at this month’s World Snooker Championship, which starts on April 19.

The decision to appear at the Crucible will hinge on THREE key practice sessions the days before the action starts in Sheffield on Easter Saturday.

He regrets his meltdown in January when he snapped his cue in anger at a low-key event in Leicester – and he is struggling to find a suitable replacement.

O’Sullivan, who has pulled out of FIVE tournaments in 2025, said: “I’ll make a decision when I feel like I’m ready to make a decision. That will be it.

“I know I have nothing to prove. But I was getting to the point where I was scared to even go near a table.

“Not even the match table, just a practice table. And that has been going on for a long time.

“I tried to play through it. I tried and I tried and I tried. I was getting no enjoyment out of it.

“Even that season when I won five tournaments, it was just hard. I couldn’t keep going on struggling.

“At some point you’ve got to try and enjoy the game. I can only enjoy it if I’m playing half decent.”

O’Sullivan – currently ranked fourth in the Worlds seeding pot – will play another pro over three days and how he feels then will influence his decision whether to appear at the Crucible for a 33rd consecutive year.

The seven-time world champion said: “I’ve got practice sessions booked up on the 14th, 15th and 16th.

“I’ll make a decision after those three good sparring sessions that I have arranged.

“Until then, I’ll be working as hard as I can to try and figure out the problem.

“It’s hard. It’s really hard. I never thought I’d be in this situation where I didn’t feel like I’d have the confidence to go and play to be honest with you.”

A race against time is on to locate the cue that will make him competitive over 17 gruelling days of action in South Yorkshire.

At the start of this year, after he lost 3-2 to Chris Wakelin at the behind-closed-doors event Championship League, O’Sullivan took his equipment and broke it in half – and then stuffed it in the bin!

His pal Robbie retrieved the cue and O’Sullivan laughed: “Unrepairable. It’s a bit of memorabilia now. It’ll be getting sold off.

“I literally don’t have a cue. I still haven’t found one that I’m comfortable with. Still just trying out different ones. Trying to find one that I like.

“I’ve probably changed my cue maybe four, five times. On two or three occasions, I found one straightaway.

“On the other two occasions, it has taken me sometimes a year to find one.

“I do regret it really. Because it was my cue. It’s hard to find another one.

“What happened was just coming. I have done it before. And it’s not the game, it’s me really.

“I’ve just been struggling for so long now. I just couldn’t do it anymore to be honest with you. I couldn’t. And I’m still struggling now to be honest.”

O’Sullivan, who turns 50 this year, has pulled out of the Masters, German Masters, Welsh Open and World Grand Prix, citing “medical grounds”. 

The long-term snooker expert for TNT Sports insists the issues are with his technique and are affecting his ability to strike the ball straight.

He said: “It got to the point where I was struggling with the game. I always call it snooker depression.

“Call it stage fright. Call it whatever you like. It starts to affect you mentally.

“Listen, that’s why I snapped my cue, I just couldn’t take it anymore.

“I don’t want to put myself in a situation where I feel like that could happen again.

“I need to find the love for the game, to find that passion.

“I’m not bothered about winning and losing. I never have been.

“I’ve always been more, ‘Where’s my game at?’ If my game is alright, then cool.

“If it’s terrible, I can leave that for one, two, three, four months. But I can’t live for three, four years of struggling and just grinding it out.

“It was just no fun to be honest with you. I’m trying to unravel it.

“If you’d asked me the question, ‘Do you think I’ll ever get to a point where I feel comfortable enough to go and play?‘

“Well, the answer two days ago would have been probably ‘maybe’. If you ask me today, after the last two practice sessions, I’d say absolutely not.

Gary Filtness is someone Ronnie has a lot of respect for. That’s no guarantee of success but it certainly helps. At least we now know where things stand. Also, Ronnie had spoken about going to Riyadh, end of next week to work with Nigel Bond. Nigel is also someone he trusts and an excellent coach. Fingers crossed something positive comes out of this!

But he’s been a lso beenworking with Lee Walker recently

Here is the Lee Walker’s interview also shared by Ben in commentary

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s coach reveals ‘hope’ ahead of World Snooker Championship decision

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s coach, Lee Walker, opens up about working with the seven-time world champion as fans wait to see if the Rocket will take part at the Crucible

By Mark Whiley Sports Reporter

It remains to be seen whether Ronnie O’Sullivan will play at the World Championship(Image: Getty)

Snooker coach Lee Walker has lifted the lid on working with Ronnie O’Sullivan as the Rocket ponders whether to play at the World Championship. Three years after going level with Stephen Hendry on seven world titles, it remains to be seen if the Rocket will show up for the 2025 showpiece, which begins on April 19.

O’Sullivan briefly returned to action in January at the low-key Championship League, only to smash his cue in frustration and withdraw before his final group match. He promptly withdrew from the Masters, where he was due to defend the title, and a series of other tournaments.

The 49-year-old is on the official entry list for the Crucible, but it remains anyone’s guess as to whether he will take part. Unhappy with his game, perfectionist O’Sullivan enlisted the help of Mark Williams’ long-time coach, Walker, earlier this season. That relationship is still ongoing as fans await the Rocket’s Crucible call with bated breath.

“We’re still working together but he’s taking a bit of a break at the moment,” said Walker in mid-March in an interview for Reach’s World Championship preview publication.

“We’ll just wait and see whether he comes back and plays at the World Championship. Hopefully, if he does play in the World Championship, he can feel a bit better and get back to doing what he does best, which is potting balls.”

O’Sullivan hasn’t played competitive snooker since January(Image: Getty)

While Walker has had just a handful of sessions with O’Sullivan so far, he described them as “incredible” experiences.

“It’s different to Mark because we’re very good friends and have practised together for years. I know what I’m seeing there,” explained Walker, a former World Seniors champion.

“I’ve played Ronnie a couple of times but had not actually seen what he does close up. I’ve had four or five sessions with him, and I enjoyed every one.

“He was first-class with me in every session we did. To see a player like that up close, everybody can learn different things from watching him.”

Williams had no issues with Walker linking up with one of his great rivals. Walker revealed: “He told me to do it. He basically said, ‘When a player like Ronnie asks you, there’s only one answer’.”

While O’Sullivan’s immediate future is uncertain, Walker insists it would be foolish to write him and fellow ‘Class of 92’ members Williams and John Higgins off.

“If he [O’Sullivan] never plays again or never wins another tournament, he’ll still go down as the greatest player who’s ever played the game,” said Walker. “This is what separates the likes of Ronnie, Mark and John from most other players.“

John has just won again [at the World Open] after a few years of not winning. People said he’d never win another tournament but you can never write these guys off. They’re just incredible.

“I’m sure Ronnie will eventually want to get back to it. I think everyone, firstly, wants to see him feeling good and then getting back to what he does best.”

I had just seen that same interview myself.

I’m not sure what to make of all this.

It’s obvious that Ronnie is truly struggling with his mental health at the moment and probably isn’t really fit to play. It’s not the first time it happens. Of course, we don’t know if the state of his snooker is the only thing weighting on his mind. Because a person, like Ronnie, is a “public figure” doesn’t mean the “public” has any right to know what’s going on in their private life and nobody knows what’s going on in other people’s life unless they share their concerns, fears or sorrows. Also, Ronnie has previous with depression. His documentary was very revealing in that regard. We just have to accept that it is what it is – as he would put it himself – and hope for the best.

David Hendon speaks about what he saw from Ronnie at the CLS, and his withdrawal from the Masters

Monique opinion, Professional snooker tournament, Snooker, Talking point , ,

David Hendon was, still is probably, in Leicester where he comments on the action.

Following Ronnie’s withdrawal from the Masters, and reading peoples’ reactions to it, David decided to explain what he witnessed during Group 3 at the 2025 invitational CLS: you can listen to it here.

Thank you David for sharing this and your balanced views on what happened.

And, yes, it’s a concern.

Snooker News – 8 January 2025 … and more rant

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The 2025 Championship League Snooker Invitational continued on Monday and yesterday with Group 2.

The group was won by Si Jiahui, and Jak Jones, the runner-up made his first professional 147.

Here is the report shared by WST:

JONES JOINS 147 CLUB, BUT SI WINS GROUP

Jak Jones made the first official maximum break of his career at the BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational on Tuesday, however he finished runner-up in Group Two to Si Jiahui.

…

Jones’ perfect break came in the third frame of a 3-0 victory over Chris Wakelin during the group phase, in which he also made breaks of 81 and 119. Wakelin failed to score a single point in the fixture as Crucible runner-up Jones showed his break-building calibre. It’s the 209th maximum in snooker history and seventh of the 2024/25 season so far.

China’s Si finished top of the group table with five wins out of six, followed by Ali Carter, Jones and Wakelin who all notched three wins. In the semi-finals, Si came from 2-1 down to beat Wakelin 3-2, making breaks of 94 and 77 in the last two frames. Jones saw off Carter 3-1.

Welshman Jones took a 2-0 lead in the final, but Si stormed back to 2-2 with runs of 101 and 94, then got the better of the decider to book his place in February’s Winners’ Group. Before that, the 22-year-old can look forward to a debut in next week’s Johnstone’s Paint Masters, and Si will head to Alexandra Palace full of confidence with a series of wins under his belt.

Group Three gets underway on Wednesday with World Champion Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan joining the action.

Broadcast Information
Fans can watch the action unfold globally, with comprehensive live coverage available on two tables throughout the tournament. Table One will be streamed live on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel and available to UK viewers as well as on Rigour in China and Viaplay in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Iceland. Table Two will be streamed live on the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel, accessible to fans worldwide.

All results are available on snooker.org.

I’m coming out once again regarding WST “broadcast” information… and It’s not just about this event. I live now in Greece. Table 1 is geo-blocked in Greece despite the fact that there is no other way to watch it without a vpn. Next week the Masters will be played. Again I will have no means to watch it without a vpn. We have a television, with 40+ different channels available but only BBC news is part of the available packages. 1HBOmax is now the replacement platform for the ES player … but again, I need a vpn to use it because it’s not available in Greece. Vpns don’t come for free and you must know how to set them up. Over the last years WST policies, and broadcasters policies have made it increasingly difficult and costly for me to watch the snooker. IF the people in charge at WST really want the sport to be truly “global” and grow in new regions, these policies have to change. They won’t develop a growing interest in the sport if more and more people are prevented to watch it unless they have some IT stuff knowledge and are willing to pay. Quite the opposite, they will lose viewers in places were it used to be easily accessible.

  1. Some more channels are available via satellite TV. However, on top of the associated costs, there are restrictions on that too. In most traditional villages, satellite plates are not allowed. ↩︎