Ronnie O’Sullivan made a rare trip to the German Masters this week as he looked to rediscover some form, but he left Berlin with more questions than answers as his prolonged slump continues.
On his first appearance in the main stages for nine years, the Rocket won his opener against China’s Long Zehuang, but fell at the next hurdle, beaten by his old sparring partner Ali Carter.
Even in the win over Long, O’Sullivan wasn’t great and he remained a huge distance from his peak against the Captain, comfortably outplayed by a man he has beaten with incredible consistency over the years.
In the matches that go down on players’ head-to-head records, this was just Carter’s second win over O’Sullivan at the 22nd attempt. While he played well enough, potting some great long balls, it’s not like he had to be flawless to achieve it.
O’Sullivan has been the bogeyman for plenty a player over the years, but Carter is the latest of those who have long been his bunny to turn the gun back on the tormentor.
At the International Championship in November, Jack Lisowski took a 0-4 head-to-head record into his meeting with the Rocket and emerged with a 6-5 win.
Next came Shaun Murphy, who doesn’t often do well against O’Sullivan, he was 15-4 behind to him in their contests over the years, before a 4-0 victory in Riyadh.
O’Sullivan then arrived at the UK Championship and took on Zhou Yuelong in the first round, a player he had beaten seven times out of seven previous contests, and lost 6-4.
These are all really good players the Rocket has been losing to, but they are ones who have struggled to beat him for years on end. For all to get the better of the seven-time world champion in a matter of months shows something has changed.
A significant weapon in the GOAT’s arsenal has been his aura at the table, with opponents often wilting under the stress of taking on the sport’s biggest star and most successful player.
Obviously O’Sullivan has always been capable of producing unplayable snooker, but often he has been able to produce entirely playable stuff and still win, with his opponent failing to rise to the occasion.
As Lisowski, Murphy, Zhou and Carter get Rocket-shaped monkeys off their backs, is that aura beginning to dim?
His fellow Class of 92 legend John Higgins has likened O’Sullivan to the ‘Ready Brek boy’ with a glow of ‘magic stardust’ about him, and he will always have that.
Judd Trump this week said of the Rocket: ‘I think he’s always going to be an amazing player until he’s 90 years old or whatever. He’s always going to be unbelievable.’
But concerningly for O’Sullivan and his many fans, players will always respect him but may just start to fear him a bit less, like a former unbeaten fighter rapidly becoming less terrifying as the losses rack up.
The 50-year-old’s poor results have widely been put down to his lack of tournament play, with the standard too good across the tour now for him to turn up when he wants and breeze through the early rounds.
There is certainly truth to that, but it is too easy an option to explain away O’Sullivan’s troubles using just his reduced schedule.
Remember, we are talking about a man who won the 2013 World Championship at the end of a season during which he played one solitary match.
In fact, Carter won their game on Wednesday having had very little tournament play of late as well.
Since October’s Northern Ireland Open, the Captain had played three games before his meeting with the Rocket, winning just one of them. He also hadn’t played a match at the venue in Berlin, unlike O’Sullivan.
‘It wasn’t enjoyable in the end to see him not really enjoy it’
There’s no doubt O’Sullivan isn’t exactly match sharp, but it feels like there is more than that behind his frailty at the moment.
The world number eight is talking a good game, saying this week in Berlin that he is focussed on achieving his one remaining goal on the table, a record eighth World Championship title.
He will be at the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong next week in another attempt to rediscover form and some enjoyment on the table, with Carter saying that it was difficult to relish beating O’Sullivan given how clearly he was uncomfortable under the spotlight.
‘It’s great for the fans to see him, but it wasn’t enjoyable in the end to see him not really enjoy it,’ said the Captain. ‘The heat of the battle is what we all play for but I suppose he’s in a different stage of his career right now.’
It is a stage of his career that will be troubling the sport’s greatest player and will continue to trouble him as long as these early exits continue.
This is absolutely not a move to write off the Rocket. The magic is still in there, as we saw in August with his two 147s in the Saudi Arabia Masters semi-final, before only losing the final to Neil Robertson by the odd frame.
As and when he does regain some rhythm and consistency, titles will follow and maybe even that eighth World Championship.
The problem is that the wand is not producing the spells nearly as regularly as it once did and when it doesn’t, O’Sullivan looks more vulnerable than ever. His B and C games have won tournaments before, they are now struggling to win matches.
It was only earlier this season, though, that O’Sullivan had a very firm message to his doubters, which raged against any perceived dip in confidence.
‘I’ve always said I’d be the first to let you know when I’m done, finished or gone or whatever it is,’ he said.
‘I was getting written off in 2012 and I played probably my best snooker when I won the World Championship.
‘I did say then: “Don’t ever question me. I’ll let you know when I’m done.”‘