Snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed he switched to playing left-handed after being “scared” to hit the practice tables.
The Rocket has always boasted ambidextrous prowess, and while he previously expressed his regret at not playing with both hands sooner in his career, his non-dominant left is still a match for most on the circuit.
That was exemplified at the Saudi Arabia Masters, cruising to a 5-1 win over Lei Peifan in the first round without using his right hand. But the tournament ended in disappointment for O’Sullivan, who was beaten 6-4 by Si Jiahui in the quarter-finals.
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He’d had far from the ideal build-up to the new Saudi competition, as he didn’t want to step near a table if it meant playing with his right hand. Explaining the situation to the World Snooker Tour (WST), he said: “I made the decision about four weeks ago.
“I went ‘I cannot’ – I was actually scared to go near a practice table, that’s how bad it got. I was just refusing, finding any excuse not to practice, and I thought ‘What are my options? My only option is to play left-handed’. So I’m enjoying practicing left-handed.
“I can’t compete with these guys left-handed but if I can just play a few matches in the game where I kind of go ‘that felt nice, that felt nice’. I’ve got to have a bit of ‘that felt nice’. If I don’t get a bit of ‘that felt nice’, I ain’t gonna play. I just haven’t got it in me, I just haven’t.”
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O’Sullivan remains one of the world’s best players, but despite continuing to win titles, he feels his career has declined over the last five years. He once again hinted at retirement after his Saudi loss, telling the Express he’s “finished” at the peak of the sport.
However, he admitted that walking away from snooker is difficult for him. “I think I’ve just got to find ways where I can play and just get – it’s not even about winning, just to go ‘oh that was alright, I can sleep tonight’,” he continued in his WST interview.
“I can get up in the morning thinking ‘I don’t mind going near a snooker table’, because I love the life, I love being on the road, I love travelling. And the minute I stop playing snooker, that’s all going to stop really.”