Ronnie O’Sullivan revealed his thirst for an eighth Masters title as he beat Luca Presil 6-1 to reach the last 16 at Alexandra Palace.
The 47-year-old has summoned back-to-back centuries by exploiting his opponent’s apparent nerves to stay on the path to a title he may have won but hasn’t won since 2017.
Despite repeated hints of retiring and losing his love for the game, O’Sullivan said he felt refreshed and focused and sounded a warning to competitors looking to win the title.
O’Sullivan told the BBC: “I feel like I have life in perspective – I’ve spent a lot of years being disappointed in the game and thought about trying not to be disappointed, and that liberated me a bit.
“I’m still competitive. If I take away anything that I want to be better at, that’s normal and I’ll never lose it, so players can expect me to keep looking for more.”
The grueling nature of O’Sullivan’s victory over the former British qualifier from Belgium underlined how keen he was to establish his dominance in the prestigious event.
After O’Sullivan opened with a break of 97, Brecel missed golden opportunities to win each of the next two, out of position into brown in the second and in and out of blue the next, after taking a surprise green from the side-pad with the remainder.
O’Sullivan led to 3–0 and although Pressell responded with a century before the mid-session break, a lack of concentration cost him in frame five when a poor first-half strike put O’Sullivan on a break to the Lions from. 134.
A red miss in the middle in the next innings dropped O’Sullivan to 104 short of completing a win that would send a clear message to his title challengers.
“You feel like somebody’s a little nervous and hitting hard,” added O’Sullivan. “No matter what sport you’re in, when you’re playing with the best guys, they’re going to smell it.
“You don’t have to say you’re under stress, I smell it, and if I smell it, I’m going to give you a rash.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan revealed his thirst for an eighth Masters title as he beat Luca Presil 6-1 to reach the last 16 at Alexandra Palace.
The 47-year-old has summoned back-to-back centuries by exploiting his opponent’s apparent nerves to stay on the path to a title he may have won but hasn’t won since 2017.
Despite repeated hints of retiring and losing his love for the game, O’Sullivan said he felt refreshed and focused and sounded a warning to competitors looking to win the title.
O’Sullivan told the BBC: “I feel like I have life in perspective – I’ve spent a lot of years being disappointed in the game and thought about trying not to be disappointed, and that liberated me a bit.
“I’m still competitive. If I take away anything that I want to be better at, that’s normal and I’ll never lose it, so players can expect me to keep looking for more.”
The grueling nature of O’Sullivan’s victory over the former British qualifier from Belgium underlined how keen he was to establish his dominance in the prestigious event.
After O’Sullivan opened with a break of 97, Brecel missed golden opportunities to win each of the next two, out of position into brown in the second and in and out of blue the next, after taking a surprise green from the side-pad with the remainder.
O’Sullivan led 3–0 and although Pressell responded with a century before the mid-session break, a lack of concentration cost him in frame five when a weak first-half strike put O’Sullivan into the second half. from 134.
A red miss in the middle in the next innings dropped O’Sullivan to 104 short of completing a win that would send a clear message to his title challengers.
“You feel like somebody’s a little nervous and hitting hard,” added O’Sullivan. “No matter what sport you’re in, when you’re playing with the best guys, they’re going to smell it.
“You don’t have to say you’re under stress, I smell it, and if I smell it, I’m going to give you a rash.”
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