Downbeat Ronnie O’Sullivan has warned he will continue “stinking out gaffes” after he limped into the quarter-finals of the UK Snooker Championship with a 6-5 win over Robert Milkins in York.
O’Sullivan, who is playing in trainers due to suffering from the heel injury plantar fasciitis, made his frustration clear as he almost blew a 5-3 lead before rallying to earn a last-eight slot against Zhou Yuelong.
O’Sullivan shrugged, “I don’t understand how this game works.” “A very long time ago, I quit up. I just keep showing up and making embarrassing mistakes. I messed up today, and I’ll mess up tomorrow too. To watch me play, you’ll need to purchase a mask.
O’Sullivan, who is going for a record seventh UK title, was far from at his best even though he did smash a 142 in frame five. He showed his annoyance by dumping his cue down the table to give Milkins one of three fantastic opportunities in the decider.
However, Milkins, who had only defeated O’Sullivan once in eleven previous tries at the single-frame Shoot-Out in 2002, was unable to take advantage of the situation. He missed a pink, then a straightforward red to the center, and then dangled a red over the bottom pocket, which essentially ended his chances.
With the victory, O’Sullivan was able to stay in the city for an additional day or more and gain enough ranking points to give him hope of maintaining his position before the holidays, when he plans to miss the Scottish Open and go to Macau for an exhibition on Christmas Day.
O’Sullivan continued, “I just don’t want it bad enough anymore.” “I have to delve far. I didn’t have to dig very far when I was younger because I was so hungry, but now I’m simply thinking I don’t really care.
Although it would be good if I could finish, I don’t really want to work so hard. I enjoy putting up my own exhibitions in China for this reason. It’s still competitive, but whether you win or lose, you can still have a drink and some food.
Competitive sports are difficult; it takes more than just skill to succeed—it need willpower. I still enjoy traveling, living the lifestyle, and wanting to play. However, I won’t endanger my life there; it’s not worth it.
Because of O’Sullivan’s poor decision-making from the beginning, Milkins, whose career has taken off when he won his maiden ranking championship at the Welsh Open in February and into the world’s top 16 for the first time, was able to take advantage of the situation and take a 2-0 lead.
Milkins had a fantastic opportunity to lead 3-0, but a simple missed red allowed O’Sullivan to respond with 86 points in a hurry. In the fourth session, he added 53 points to move into the interval even at 2-2. It could have gone much better for Milkins.
O’Sullivan took the lead for the first time with a masterful 142 total clearance, and he went up 4–2 thanks to another mistake by Milkins in the next, when he broke down on a black on 52.
The balance of the match kept shifting as Milkins cut the gap with a coolly delivered 91, and O’Sullivan answered with an 83 to pull within one frame of victory.
Milkins responded with a brilliant 120 of his own, and O’Sullivan furthered his aggravation by wildly trying to bail out of a snooker that gave his opponent the easiest of opportunities to equalize.
Though there was no way Milkins could have dreamed for a better opportunity to break his multi-frame losing streak, nerves definitely got the better of him, and he was forced to pay for his mistakes when O’Sullivan came back to secure a surprisingly lackluster victory.
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