Ronnie O'Sullivan has been accused of failing to 'put in the graft' after his World Snooker Championship aspirations were shattered by John Higgins. Former snooker player-turned-pundit Alan McManus delivered a stinging verdict on the Rocket following O'Sullivan's exit from the Crucible classic.
O'Sullivan had opened up a 6-2 advantage after the opening session, but eventually succumbed 13-12 following an extraordinary comeback from Higgins. The seven-time champion brought proceedings to an abrupt halt by conceding the final frame prematurely before promptly leaving the arena.
Despite O'Sullivan appearing the superior player for extended periods, McManus took aim at the seven-time Crucible winner. 'Good, he should be [hurt], because he didn't put the graft in for this tournament - I'm being harsh on him here,' he said. 'The positives are that, in my opinion, he's still got the juice to win this thing again. But that will only happen if he puts in the graft long term.'
McManus, who has previously questioned O'Sullivan's hunger to continue winning after he cut back his playing commitments, indicated that the snooker legend must alter his approach if he wishes to compete in the sport's premier events. He continued: 'I've said it before, this game, not just his, but it has to be a lifestyle choice. You can pick and choose your moments to go away and have two or three or four months off in the summer. But when you get down to the bones of it, that is the way that it is.'
'Neil Robertson had a golden period a few years ago, he slipped off the radar and he has struggled ever since. It took him time to get back to near his best and I don't think he's there yet. It's a lifestyle choice, and it is Ronnie's choice and that is fine. But, if he wants to win this thing again and I think we all know he does, maybe he could change one or two things going forward next year. I hope he does.'
O'Sullivan had originally put Higgins under serious pressure, establishing a 6-2 and subsequently a 9-4 lead before the four-time Crucible champion fought his way back into the match and secured the deciding frame. The triumph enabled Higgins to confirm his spot in the quarter-finals against Neil Robertson and maintain a favourable Crucible record against O'Sullivan (4-3).
The seven-time champion made an astonishing admission following the loss, revealing he never expected to reach the third session. 'I've got to be honest with you, I had a flight booked home early this morning because I wasn't sure if I'd get to the third session before the match started,' O'Sullivan said. 'I was realistic about my chances, John's strong, playing well, won tournaments the last couple of years. I haven't been in any big matches really for two years. These games, I know it's a different level. It's alright beating people in the last 64, last 32, whatever, ranked 30th or 40th in the world.'
'But playing the top boys under a real pressure situation, I knew it was going to kind of expose me in some sort of way. I was really shocked that I was able to make a game of it, to be honest with you. Literally, when I was 6-2 up at the first session, I said to my mate: I can't work this one out. I felt like I played okay. 9-7 up, I thought, okay, cool, two sessions. One you can get a bit flukey. It's a little bit of new territory for me again, but John played great. I tried to hang on to him. I just couldn't get the job done. I'll go back to Ireland, just chill there and then come back whenever I've got to play again.'
He struck the table in the final frame of the middle session following a missed shot, yet maintained: 'I wasn't even angry. I was quite frustrated. I thought: I missed another bloody important ball. How many of these am I going to keep missing? It was a nice sort of anger. In the last round I thought, rather than do the hands, do it with the cue. I missed the tough ball, it was just nice just to go bang. Then within a second, it's deleted and I'm cool as a cucumber really. I like to just get it out and it's just done, drawn a line under it, just move forward.'
