Ronnie O’Sullivan slams ‘gradual mind’ younger snooker rivals who ‘cannot beat him’

Ronnie O’Sullivannonetheless is not impressed with the youngsters of right this moment.

Not for the primary time in his profession, ‘The Rocket’ took goal on the subsequent era of snooker skills by saying he feels youthful than the up-and-comers. That was after beating Shaun Murphy at Alexandra Palace on Saturday to succeed in the ultimate of the 2024 Masters.

O’Sullivan has been essential of the game’s prospects up to now and recommended he is not intimidated by those that ought to be forcing him out. And the 48-year-old goal extra scrutiny on the new dynasty by saying even with a profession’s price of illnesses, he nonetheless feels spritely by comparability.

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“I feel younger around the table than these younger players. They look old,” he mentioned after beating ‘The Magician’ 6-2. “Their brains are quite slow. They need to get their act together because I’m going blind, got a dodgy arm and bad knees and they still can’t beat me!”

The world No1 will face both Ali Carter or Mark Allen in Sunday’s Masters closing at Ally Pally, the place he is hoping to raise the title for a record-extending eighth time. O’Sullivan additionally tops the desk for Masters closing appearances with 14, which is 5 greater than his nearest rival.

The likes of Luca Brecel, Jack Lisowski and Kyren Wilson have every turn out to be larger components in main tournaments lately. However, extra established snooker stars like O’Sullivan, Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Carter and Allen stay very related in these title conversations.

Fellow snooker participant Hossein Vafaei mentioned in 2022 that O’Sullivan ought to retire to be able to let the following era of gamers thrive on the elite degree. However, The Rocket seems intent on remaining related so long as his skills will permit – and that does not appear prone to change anytime quickly.

“I think he should retire, to be honest with you,” mentioned Vafaei as a part of a back-and-forth with O’Sullivan on the time. “He should retire and then the younger generation make the game bigger.”