Ronnie O’Sullivan makes his snooker return at the Crucible – for first time since snapping his cue in anger in January – against old rival he told ‘sort your f***ing life out’

Ronnie O’Sullivan has returned to snooker for the first time since January as he graces the World Championship.

O’Sullivan is facing off against his old foe Ali Carter at the Crucible Theatre, who he said needs to ‘sort his f****** life out’ after beating him in the 2024 Masters final. 

The seven-time world champion’s 33rd consecutive Crucible appearance had been in doubt, having not competed since snapping his cue in anger at the Champions League in January after a 3-2 defeat to Robert Milkins.

He admitted in the build-up that he would have to overcome ‘stage fright’ to go toe-to-toe with Carter after struggling with his mental health. 

O’Sullivan told Mail Sport recently that he was ‘burned out’ after ‘four years of struggling’ and would make a last-minute call on whether to play in Sheffield.

In his only appearance this year, O’Sullivan lost four of his five matches in the Championship League and snapped his cue before pulling out of his final game.

He then dropped out of the Masters, German Masters, Welsh Open and the World Grand Prix, apologising to spectators and citing a mixture of exhaustion and medical reasons. Such is his disappointment with his form, he has been unable to practice.

O’Sullivan has been a regular fixture at the Crucible since turning professional in 1992 and admitted he had often found his successes a breeze. 

Now, however, he has attributed his advancing age to his struggle to fully recover from tournaments. 

‘I regret it, but that wasn’t a spur of the moment thing, I’d had four years of just really struggling and I just couldn’t take it anymore,’ O’Sullivan told Mail Sport of his cue snap.

‘It wasn’t the losing, it was the playing really, really badly. Four years of bad spells is a long time, so it burnt me out. It ground me down. It’s been torturous. I got to the point, especially at the start of the season, when I was getting scared to go near the practice table or getting scared to get my cue out of my case.

‘I tried playing left-handed for a whole month in August. Then I tried to change my bridge and I was wearing plasters on my fingers. So I have tried a lot of things but I’ve hit a dead end, which is why I needed to take time out.

‘It’s not a mental thing. It’s more of a physical thing. It’s really hard to explain. Watching my game on TV, I could see what was wrong, but I just didn’t know how to fix it. In the end, I couldn’t even watch myself play because I just hated it.

‘I believe that goes back six years to when I started changing my technique to try to find that extra five per cent of consistency. But I’ve totally made my game worse.’

He has history with Carter, who he beat in the 2008 and 2012 finals. 

Last year, he accused Carter of ‘digging a grave for himself’ after his foe accused him of ‘snotting all over the floor’ in their Masters final, which O’Sullivan won 6-3. 

‘He can sit on it as far as I’m concerned,’ he said.

‘I don’t give a f***. You know what he’s like, everybody knows what he’s like. He’s got issues. F****** why has he got issues with me? I’m not having it. I don’t care, grow some balls.

‘I don’t give a f***. The more he brings it on, the more I f****** punish him every time. He’s just digging a grave for himself. He needs to sort his f****** life out.

‘That’s it, I’ve said my piece. I’m not going to skirt around it anymore, tip-toeing on egg shells around someone like that. Playing snooker against someone like that is a nightmare. He’s not a nice person.

‘It’s not a nice vibe he leaves around the table. I’ve said my piece and you’re going to write what you’re going to write. I don’t give a s***. I’ve said it now, done.

‘End of press conference? I suppose you’ve got your headlines, haven’t you?’

More to follow.