Return to form would be 'biggest achievement' - O'Sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan is currently ranked at number 12 in the world Ronnie O'Sullivan has said that restoring his game to its previous level would be the greatest achievement of his career, after winning in the first round of the World Open. The 50-year-old beat Scotland's Adam Muir 5-1 in Yushan, and will progress to the third round after Ishpreet Singh Chadha, his next scheduled opponent, withdrew from the event. The world number 12 took a 3-0 lead in the match before Muir pulled a frame back, but O'Sullivan finished the match with consecutive century breaks.

"I got here a week early just to do some practising on my own. I know I haven't played a lot of tournaments, but I've been working because my game has been in such a bad place," said O'Sullivan. "I've decided I really need to attack this now.

I have one last throw of the dice really. The last three years have been awful in terms of confidence. I'm trying to work on that now and see if I can get back to delivering the cue freely.

"I'll commit to two years to work on it and try to prolong my career. Cueing how I was cueing, there was going to be no longevity in it. " O'Sullivan has not won a ranking event on the world tour since January 2024, when he triumphed 10-7 over Judd Trump in the World Grand Prix final.