RONNIE O’SULLIVAN came within seven balls of a 147 on his return to the snooker table.
And then he announced he would give himself two years to iron out issues in his technique – or he will quit the game.
The Rocket, 50, fouled on the penultimate black of frame five of his 5-1 thrashing over Scotsman Ross Muir in round one of the World Open in Yushan.
The cue-ball flew into the pocket as he came close to securing a record-extending 18th maximum break of his career and his break ended at 113.
It would have been a record 23rd 147 had he managed to get a bit more luck.
In the first frame, there was a huge fly on the cueball and then O’Sullivan walked out of the arena briefly as he was annoyed with a logo on his waistcoat that needed repairing at the seam.
The world No.12 – who closed out the win with a 114 break – said: “It was fine. Just happy to cue alright.
“To be able to push the cue through a bit better. A 147 these days, they are like ten a penny now, I suppose.
“But it’d have been nice to get one here.
“I wasn’t really feeling any pressure. Not really. It would have been nice to get one, but I wasn’t that nervous.
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“Maybe if there was £200,000 on it and it was the second one at the World Championship, then I’d be getting a bit nervous.
“Why so many this season? I don’t know. Maybe the standard in depth is a lot better. It’s not just two or three players making them. There’s lots of different players making them.”
O’Sullivan – who faces fellow Dubai resident Matthew Selt in the Last 32 – had only played four matches this year before arriving in Yushan last week.
Inevitably, he was mobbed wherever he went by Chinese fans and journalists and he shared a hot pot with reigning world champion Zhao Xintong.
In a chat with the World Snooker Tour, he talked again about a coaching experience which he claims had a significant impact on his snooker – and is something he plans to rectify by 2028.
Seven-time world champion O’Sullivan said: “I haven’t played a lot of tournaments.
“But I’ve been working really hard on my game just because it’s been in such a bad place.
“It’s not like I’ve got my feet up while everyone’s playing. I thought I’ve got to really try and attack this now. I’ve got one last throw of the dice, really.
“The last three years have been pretty awful, confidence-wise, just playing the game.
“So I’m just trying to work on that now and just see if I can get back to just delivering the cue freely.
“If I can’t, then I don’t know how long I can carry on playing how I have been playing for the last three years.
“So, I’m hopeful one day and then I’m really unhopeful the next day.
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
- 2025 – Zhao Xintong
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins
“I have a little breakthrough and then it goes and it’s just so frustrating.
“I’ll commit to two years and try and work on it – so I can prolong my career, basically.
“Because playing how I was playing or cueing how I was cueing, there was just going to be no longevity in it.
“I’m under no illusions how difficult it would be, but I’m not going to retire or go out because something that I tried didn’t work for me.
“I’m going to try and get back to my natural instinct of playing and try and re-coach myself in some sort of way with the help of other people. I can’t do it on my own.”
