Ronnie O'Sullivan was defeated in the World Championship quarter-finals by Stuart Bingham and said he "deserved to lose". He also suggested his time at the top of the snooker rankings might be at an end now. Stuart Bingham won the match 13-9, winning five frames in a row during Wednesday's final session.
O'Sullivan has won 27 ranking events, including five UK titles and five Masters titles. "I've had 20 years at the top - eventually there has to be a changing of the guard," said O'Sullivan, now aged 39, after the match. "I was way off the pace. He just pushed me around and I felt second best all match."
Bingham is not much younger though, he is 38 years old. "You can't start looking for form these days. I made so many unforced errors," added O'Sullivan. "Before you might have got away with it, but now you get punished by all the players. If you don't play the minor tournaments, you are going to get left behind. I am not prepared to play in the minor events either, though."
Bingham plays Judd Trump in the semi-finals while Shaun Murphy takes on Barry Hawkins. Here are the current outright tournament win odds at Bet365:
Judd Trump - 1.83 Shaun Murphy - 3.25 Barry Hawkins - 8.50 Stuart Bingham - 9.00
kruno1414
8 years ago
He was just not concentrated in that match , thats for sure , cause with class that he have and with his mental skills of course being concentrated he is imposible to get beaten by a player caliber like Stuart Bingham . He is very humble guy a true master of this game , look just at his interview , i just love this guy...
He was just not concentrated in that match , thats for sure , cause with class that he have and with his mental skills of course being concentrated he is imposible to get beaten by a player caliber like Stuart Bingham . He is very humble guy a true master of this game , look just at his interview , i just love this guy :)
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Johnajax 8 years ago
Ronnie Osullivan was one of the best player ever but he is not anymore and I thin that people don't realize that. When I watching him now I see that this is not same player from few years ago. I think that now there are a lot of better players and maybe it is time for Ronnie to retire because he can't play on the highest...
Ronnie Osullivan was one of the best player ever but he is not anymore and I thin that people don't realize that. When I watching him now I see that this is not same player from few years ago. I think that now there are a lot of better players and maybe it is time for Ronnie to retire because he can't play on the highest level anymore.
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mdacic 8 years ago
I don't like to see big players struggle. Ronnie O'Sullivan is one of the best snooker players ever played and I am sure that he will back his form and keep winning and stay in top of snooker players. I know that he is not in the best shape but I was very surprised when he lose against Stuart. I think that was only bad...
I don't like to see big players struggle. Ronnie O'Sullivan is one of the best snooker players ever played and I am sure that he will back his form and keep winning and stay in top of snooker players. I know that he is not in the best shape but I was very surprised when he lose against Stuart. I think that was only bad day for Ronnie.
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sharpe
8 years ago
Ronnie is the greatest talent ever to ply this game, but he's really was not even at 50% at this championship. I hope he will continue to play because the snooker will not be the same without him. I'm almost in tears every time he looses a match, maybe not most successful player ever but for sure a genius.
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