17 December 2023 , 14:21
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Ronnie O'Sullivan has taken aim at snooker's 'boring players' by claiming they 'drain the life out of everybody' involved in the sport.
The Rocket, 48, is one of the most entertaining snooker players of all time. He's a seven-time world champion and won his eighth title at the UK Championship in York earlier this month, a staggering 30 years after claiming his first triumph at the prestigious event.
O'Sullivan was due to compete in the ongoing Scottish Open but pulled out on the eve of the tournament. He's still travelled to Edinburgh to work as a pundit for Eurosport, with defending champion Gary Wilson taking on Noppon Saengkham in Sunday's final.
O'Sullivan was asked for his opinion on snookers, a tactic used in the sport to pick up points without potting a ball. It's most commonly used when there isn't enough points left on the table for a player to claw back a deficit and keep the frame alive.
For example, a player can be 60 points behind their opponent with only 58 points remaining on the table. If one player snookers their opponent, the latter will need to play a shot from an unconventional position - thus making it harder to hit the target.
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If that player misses the target, points will be awarded to their opponent for a foul. No fewer than four points and no more than seven are awarded for a foul.
Playing for snookers is controversial, as many fans would like to see frames ended when there aren't enough points remaining on the table. O'Sullivan was asked for his opinion on the matter and decided to take aim at some of his contemporaries.
O'Sullivan replied: "I think you should bring a rule out where you get rid of boring snooker players. That's probably a better rule."
O'Sullivan made the claim while working as a pundit (Eurosport)After some laughter, O'Sullivan added: "Clever snookers can be fun, (but) boring snooker players just drag the game out. I mean, get rid of them. Fine them. Do something. Make them play snooker instead of just draining the life out of everybody."
O'Sullivan was then asked if he would play on for snookers. The veteran said: "Nah, not my thing snookers. I'd rather get on with the next frame."
He added: "I think the game needs to be entertaining, at the end of the day. Somebody getting snookers can be entertaining... but I think the bigger thing is just getting rid of really boring players that play horrible snooker, ugly snooker."
Gary Wilson is on course to defend his Scottish Open title in Edinburgh this week (Getty Images)Do you agree with Ronnie O'Sullivan? Let us know in the comments below!
When asked if the snookers seen at the Scottish Open were entertaining, O'Sullivan replied: "They're good players, they're proper players. I can watch that all day long, I haven't got a problem with that. It's when you get really negative players.
"It's hard to watch. I think that's a more important thing to get rid of than people playing for snookers. We're talking about something that's not really important. It's the way that game's played that should be more important."
O'Sullivan also had little interest in a shot clock being introduced to hurry the game on. He said: "I don't think you need a shot clock, just encourage people to play snooker properly... a lot of these players I see, they're just painful to watch."
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And O'Sullivan wants the sport to be played in the right style. He urged his rivals: "There's winning styles, play a winning game. If you play like that, you can't win. What's the point... go watch Stephen Hendry videos and just try and emulate that."