Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed his two-year plan to get back to his best means he will be avoiding lucrative exhibition events. O’Sullivan returned to snooker with a comfortable win over Ali Carter in the first round of the World Championship.
The Rocket had not played a competitive game before facing Carter at the Crucible. He had dropped out of several events due to medical reasons after snapping his cue during the Champions League.
As a seven-time world champion, O’Sullivan is one of the stars of the sport. That means that exhibition events have been a reliable money-maker for him in recent years, even as his form has suffered a dip.
The 49-year-old has failed to win a major title this season, with the last competition he won being the Masters in March 2024. O’Sullivan is still working his way back to feeling at his best.
Given that, he has now made a pledge to rethink his approach to exhibition events in order to give himself the best chance to get back to winning tournaments on a regular basis.
“I am going to give myself two years. There will be no more exhibitions or distractions off the table. I will help out at the academy in Saudi Arabia,” he told TNT Sports after his win over Carter.
“I enjoy the work I am doing there. Hopefully we can do something similar in the UK because my true love is to help people and give back. That helps me to learn from other people. Otherwise it will just be tournaments and getting fit.
“I was a bit scared about playing. It is a daunting venue to play at anyway, but it’s just about getting on the bike again and playing. I’m really happy that I’ve done it, even if I’d lost it didn’t matter. I’ve made the breakthrough now.”
O’Sullivan secured a dominant win over Carter on Wednesday, with his participation in the tournament only being confirmed late last week. In Tuesday’s first session, neither player was at their best, with the score finely balanced at 5-4 to O’Sullivan.
But The Rocket broke into sensational form on Wednesday, winning all five frames and not letting Carter score a point in four of them. That included making breaks of 59, 117, 74, 123 and 131.
Four seeded players, including world champions Kyren Wilson and Neil Robertson and last year’s runner-up Jak Jones have been eliminated from O’Sullivan’s half of the draw. O’Sullivan will now face Pang Junxu in the second round, with Carter backing him to go all the way.
“No question, no-one can live with that,” Carter said. “He could’ve had 10 years off and still come here. He is a freak natural, that’s why you love to watch him – he played fabulously well.
“When the opponent is potting all the balls every mistake is highlighted and you just have to sit and watch and hope. He looks like he is in a good place and he is the man to beat.”
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