Ronnie O’Sullivan insists he is ‘not actually that bothered’ about winning the Northern Ireland Open this week, saying the only events he is interested in this season are the World and UK Championships.
The Rocket cruised through his opening round on Monday night, beating Jamie O’Neill 4-1, setting up a second round tie with either Elliot Slessor or Li Hang.
Having reached the last two finals of the event, and being the reigning world champion, O’Sullivan is clearly one of the favourites to lift the trophy on Sunday, but he does not seem thrilled by the prospect.
The Northern Ireland Open is being played in Milton Keynes this year, due to coronavirus restrictions, and the 44-year-old is struggling for motivation with all the tournaments so far this season being held in the same setting.
O’Sullivan describes the World and UK Championships as ‘worth playing for’ but all other events are ‘just bits and pieces.’
‘My main focus is my running, getting my times down, I’ve kind of written off this year, there’s not really any events worth playing for other than the Worlds and the UK, all the other ones are just bits and pieces,’ O’Sullivan told WST.
‘I’m not going to invest all my time just for a couple of events, I’ll practice a week before to give myself half a chance, but otherwise I’m enjoying my running and other bits and pieces away from snooker, this is just sort of a time-passer.
‘I’m not actually that bothered, it’s very difficult to get excited about playing in front of no crowd, coming to the same venue.
‘I’m just going through the motions, showing my face, do my bits and pieces, have a bit of fun, it’s better than sitting indoors, gets you out the house I suppose.’
The Rocket picked up the win over world number 82 O’Neill, the same opponent he beat in the first round of last year’s English Open, and he made similar comments on Monday night as he did last year in Crawley.
O’Sullivan has regularly claimed to dislike playing lower-ranked players, due to all the pressure being on him and none on the underdog.
‘I think any win against a player outside the top 64 is harder than beating the top players these days,’ he said. ‘Best of seven, they’re up for none, go out there, no pressure, come out swinging, invariably they get a bit of the rub of the green, you’re on a hiding for nothing.
‘Even winning the match tonight, it’s not like I won really, I’ve just got to avoid getting a big cake sploshed in my face.
‘They’re super excited just to be there, he doesn’t care if he loses, if he wins fantastic.
‘Like I say, you’ve just got to avoid the cake in the face, there’s a lot of cakes in the face on this tour.’
O’Sullivan is not joking when he says his focus is on running, having run eight miles on the morning of his first round match in Milton Keynes.
‘I ran eight miles this morning in 57 minutes, so getting fitter,’ he told Eurosport after beating O’Neill. ‘I’ll try and do an easy five tomorrow than go for a 10-miler Wednesday.
‘My aim this month is to focus on my running, it’s a bit hard focussing on just snooker so you’ve got to try and find something you love doing. For me it’s running, I’m keen to get my times down.’
O’Sullivan will be back in action on Wednesday against the winner of Slessor and Li.
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