Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘God told me to jack it in’
RONNIE O’Sullivan said he no longer feels “trapped in a prison” and played down retirement talk after a dazzling 6-0 first-round win over Boonyarit Keattikun at the Betway UK Snooker Championship in York.
The 40-year-old is looking for the 29th ranking title of his career and started in emphatic fashion after needing just 56 minutes to complete a whitewash victory over an overwhelmed Thai opponent.
The five-time UK champ made t hree centuries during t he match and revealed he is enjoying having to juggle his Eurosport punditry role and playing workload.
O’Sullivan said: “This is like a bit of a hobby. Getting my cue out is a bit of a pleasure whereas before, when that’s all I had to do, I felt I was trapped in a prison. Now I feel like it’s a bit exciting and I treat it as a bit of fun.
“My proper job is my punditry and doing all my other bits.That’s my salary but this is a bit of a bonus now.”
Hours before the match, O’Sullivan tweeted that God told him to give up the sport but the five-time world champion later had a positive response for his fans.
He said: “I have conversations with God and he said to me, ‘Jack snooker in mate, you’re better off as a pundit’ and I was like, ‘Hold on, we will have to have a proper conversation about that’.
“It’s not my last tournament until God puts his foot down, he is the boss and I don’t want to take liberties with him.”
PERTH’S Scott Donaldson beat Dechawat Poomjaeng (Tha) 6-4.