Returning O’Sullivan feared Crucible ‘meltdown’

Ronnie O’Sullivan has said he was “worried” about returning to snooker, fearing he would “implode” and “have a meltdown” in his first competitive match since January.

O’Sullivan, 49, beat Ali Carter 10-4 on Wednesday in the first round of the World Championship, a competition he has won seven times.

However, his participation in the tournament was only confirmed late last week after he went three months without playing competitively following an incident at the Championship League in January in which he snapped his cue and threw it in a bin.

Asked if there were times in the past week where he thought he had made a mistake about returning to snooker, O’Sullivan said: “Yeah, totally.

“I thought ‘what am I doing coming here, exposing myself, [potentially] imploding out there, having a meltdown?’ All that went through my head. I told [sports psychiatrist] Steve Peters that and he said ‘I’m coming – I will get you through the first match’.

“I was quite a bit scared coming and playing. It’s a daunting venue to play at anyway but it’s about getting on the bike again and playing and I’m really proud that I’ve done that.

In Tuesday’s first session against two-time Crucible finalist Carter, neither player was at their best, with it seemingly finely balanced at 5-4 to O’Sullivan.

But on Wednesday, ‘The Rocket’ was in sensational form, winning all five frames and not letting Carter score a point in four of them.

O’Sullivan made breaks of 59, 117, 74, 123 and 131, but in the post-match news conference stressed he was trying to “rebuild” his technique after losing faith in his ability.

He said: “I couldn’t even watch myself play as I could see what was wrong. I just couldn’t correct it and every time you make a change you think ‘this is terrible’.

“I’ve changed my alignment, changed certain things. I had lost all connection with the cue, the timing had gone, the touch had gone, feeling had gone. Years and years of that mounted up and it got to the point where I couldn’t play and it got too much.

Four seeded players, including world champions Kyren Wilson and Neil Robertson and last year’s runner-up Jak Jones have been eliminated from O’Sullivan’s half of the draw.

Chinese qualifier Pang Junxu is his opponent in the second round, although O’Sullivan said he enjoyed his Crucible return because he had not placed any expectations on himself.

“This game can humble you so many times,” said O’Sullivan. “To play one good session. It was a nice feeling and I did enjoy being out there.

“I didn’t feel too nervous because my expectation levels were maybe just to get a few frames and see where we go. I didn’t feel pressure and normally when I come here with a half-decent game I feel pressure more as it is a chance to go deep [into the draw], but on this occasion I wasn’t expecting to do much.

Carter felt O’Sullivan would claim an eighth world title if he could maintain the form he showed on Wednesday.

“No question, no-one can live with that,” said the world number 18. “He could’ve had 10 years off and still come here. He is a freak natural, that’s why you love to watch him – he played fabulously well.

“When the opponent is potting all the balls every mistake is highlighted and you just have to sit and watch and hope. He looks like he is in a good place and he is the man to beat.”

John Parrott, the 1991 world champion, speaking on BBC Two, added: “There should be a sign in the foyer which should say ‘Quiet please, genius at work’.

“We use the word ‘genius’ in sport with people like Lionel Messi and players like Tiger Woods in his pomp. This boy is in that [bracket]. It’s been over an extended period as well, and when he plays the cue ball sings.