Ronnie O'Sullivan considering snooker retirement as English Open defeat sparks furious backlash from fans

O'Sullivan had gone into the English Open hoping to win the toirnament for a second time, having previously secured victory in 2017.

But the snooker great was beaten by 4-2 by He Guogiang in Essex, having fallen three frames behind.

Now, speaking to The Sun, O'Sullivan has suggested that he's considering packing it all in.

“I haven’t got long, I’m not going to deny it," he said.

"I’m not playing well enough, there’s no point in even worrying about it.

“I’ve just accepted it now which is quite a nice place to be really.”

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O'Sullivan even hinted that he only plays snooker to 'get away from home'.

He's eager to 'rinse' the sport for all it's worth and seems pessimistic when it comes to turning his form around, having recently lost in the quarter-finals of the Saudi Masters.

“I don’t even care, I’m just here to fulfil my commitments to my sponsors, get away from home, travel," he said.

“If I can get a couple of years out of it that will be great. If I can’t, I can’t.

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“I just want to rinse as much out of it as I can, I’m not going to drive myself mad. If you’re poor, you’re poor.”

O'Sullivan has been playing with his left hand in recent times.

It is a tactic that has raised eyebrows, especially given the nature of his bad performances.

And fans on X believe he must revert back to his right hand in order to summon the magic that has made him one of the best snooker players in history.

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The 7️⃣x World champ is OUT! 😱

Ronnie O’Sullivan suffers a shock defeat to He Guoqiang 👋@WeAreWST | #BVEnglishOpen pic.twitter.com/HACoV2IhUe

— Eurosport (@eurosport) September 17, 2024

"He will suffer more shocks if continues playing left handed," were the words of one user.

A second accused him of 'disrespecting' his opponent by saying: "I'm glad totally disrespected is opponent playing the match left handed."

A third opined: "I didn't expect to see Ronnie go out at this stage."

A fourth wrote: "Took the p**s tonight playing left handed."

And a fifth said: "The crowd paid good money to see Ronnie perform but not left handed as he did with the majority of his shots. At 3-2 should have known it wasn’t working and reverted back to playing right handed.

"Disgusted in his antics, the paying public should get their money back."