Snooker great Ronnie O’Sullivan insisted it was “not the end of the world” after a stunning defeat by amateur James Cahill
london — Snooker great Ronnie O’Sullivan insisted it was “not the end of the world” after he suffered a stunning defeat by amateur James Cahill in the first round of the World Championship on Tuesday.
In one of the biggest upsets in snooker history, Cahill beat fivetime world champion O’Sullivan 10-8 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Not since 2003 had O’Sullivan lost in the first round of the World Championship.
O’Sullivan, the current world number one, had been in fine form heading into the world championship after winning five tournaments this season, compiling his 1,000th career century en route to victory in the Players Championship.
But the ‘Rocket’ blamed a below-par display on illness and recurring bouts of insomnia.
“My limbs are feeling very heavy. I have no energy,” he said. “You come here and try to do your best but if you’re physically not 100 percent it’s just one of those things. If you could take a magic pill to protect yourself from this stuff you would.”
O’Sullivan tried to put his defeat into context by adding: “It’s just life, it’s not the end of the world... If I feel better Friday I’ll be really disappointed, if I still don’t feel too great it probably wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened.”
The 43-year-old, last crowned world champion in 2013, added: “It’s over, it’s done and now I can disappear and have a holiday and just enjoy the rest of the tournament.” Earlier, O’Sullivan praised Cahill by telling the BBC: “He did well. He held himself together.”
Meanwhile Cahill, who came through three rounds of qualifying to make his Crucible debut, was delighted with a win over his snooker “idol”.
“I’m absolutely over the moon with that,” said the 23-year-old.
“I’m glad to hold myself together against the best player in the world on my Crucible debut, it doesn’t get any better than that.”—