Ronnie O'Sullivan battling illness at Masters as Rocket 'lost hearing' before match
Ronnie O'Sullivan revealed that he has been dealing with an illness at this year's Masters tournament.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed that he has been suffering with an illness during his first two games at the Masters, after booking a semi-final spot with victory over Barry Hawkins on Thursday. The Rocket won 6-3 but could be seen coughing throughout, prompting fears among some snooker fans over his involvement for the remainder of the competition.
O’Sullivan was far from his best against Hawkins and the scoreline suggested it was a more comfortable victory than in reality. However, the 48-year-old has since admitted that he has been dealing with a cold for several weeks and even lost his hearing when travelling to and from China before he started his Masters campaign.
"Maybe I've played a lot since September," he told the BBC. "For me I've played a lot and travelled a lot, sometimes... Back and forth from China. It takes it out of you. Trying to do everything is hard and at my age it can take a little bit out of you. I don't know, I'm just trying to give you answers here! I don't know the answer.
"I feel alright. I'm like everybody else in this country, I've had a cold for about four weeks now. I lost my hearing while I was in China as well. Not been too well, you know. I think everybody's been like that. It's January!”
O’Sullivan was in China over Christmas for the Macau Masters but was not looking for sympathy in his error-strewn display against Hawkins. He even missed a pink to the middle corner completely when he miscued the white ball and later apologised to the Alexandra Palace crowd.
But when asked for an explanation on his disappointing performance, O’Sullivan replied: "I don't know really, I must've gone through another 25 different cue actions. I managed to fine one that seemed to be OK and I started to feel like I could maybe pot a few balls. That kind of settled it down a little bit. It's a funny old game. I wasn't going to turn anything down, you know. If it was on, I was going to go for it.”
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O’Sullivan did pull out of several events in 2023 as a result of illness and injury, but it would be extremely unlikely for the Rocket to pull out of the Masters unless his cold significantly worsens. Given his comments, it sounds like that will not be the case.
He is just two more wins away from what would be a record-extending eighth Masters title and pull O’Sullivan closer to his dream of winning eight Masters, eight UK Championships and eight World Championships.
The Rocket reached eight UK Championships in December and can get the second of his goals this week, even while suffering from illness at Ally Pally.