13 February 2023 , 16:11
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Snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan teased fellow player Dominic Dale about his hair during a post-match interview with the BBC.
O'Sullivan had just beaten Oliver Lines 4-0 in the Welsh Open and was being interviewed by Dale, who beat Farakh Ajaib 4-1 in qualifying and is also working as a commentator and pundit for the BBC.
And while Dale was asking O'Sullivan a question, he could not resist poking fun at the Welshman for dying his hair. O'Sullivan quipped: "What have you done with your barnet?"
As the entire panel burst out laughing, Dale replied: "Oh, goodness knows. Anything to disguise the greys!" O'Sullivan then joked: "Gone from grey to ginger overnight!"
He is now set to take on Ross Muir in the last 64 and the 47-year-old is hoping to win the tournament for the fifth time in his career. Reflecting on his performance against Lines, O'Sullivan admitted he was not at his best.
Ronnie O'Sullivan forced off table in two frames during Welsh Open clash
"Sometimes you can lose focus but part of the skill of having a good temperament and mindset is being able to re-focus and get back into it," he said.
"You can't be concentrated all the time, but you have to choose your moments when to be good and when to relax a bit, switch it on and off like a dimmer switch. Sometimes you have it turned up full blast, sometimes halfway and sometimes very low.
O'Sullivan's quip left Reanne Evans in stitches (BBC Sport)"So it's about learning to adjust and playing about with the dial. Sometimes just winning your own mental battles in your head allows you to play better at some point during a match.
"I never panic. I am lucky, I have played loads of matches and won, tournaments even – so playing badly and winning is a good trait."
O'Sullivan needs to reach the final of this week's tournament in Llandudno, in order to book a place in next week's Players Championship.
On his chances, he admitted: "I enjoy whatever situation the game throws at me, deal with it as best as I can. It's just another game of snooker at the end of the day.
"I would like to be on it but it is highly unlikely I will make that tournament next week. I've booked in a couple of exhibitions for next week [in case] because I don't want to not play.
"If I don't make it at least I've got something else to do and can look forward to going to Thailand for the Six-Red World Championship."