Ronnie O`Sullivan Challenged

Has Ronnie O`Sullivan anything ahead of him yet?

On his debut, Ronnie O`Sullivan won the Pink Ribbon

Winner of the UK Championship and the Champion of Champions, Runner-Up in the World Grand Prix, Semi-Finalist at The Masters, Quarter Finalist at the World Championship and 46 centuries including a 147. If I was talking about any other player it should have been numbers of an expressive season, but in the case of Ronnie O`Sullivan he's been under a lot of doubt with these results, the question is: Is it fair and could he still improve those results?

O`Sullivan will become 40 later this year and people ask if this is the end. His last official tournament was the World Championship in April when he disappointed his fans in a Quarter Final loss against Stuart Bingham.

Last season he really played under his standards, but I think it's not about age and it's not his end as I've read in many places; Tournaments like the UK Championship which he won with a 147 and the Champion of Champions shows that his form is still there, I can remember also some great performances against Matthew Stevens at the Crucible and Barry Hawkins at the Paul Hunter Classic, as well as his good German Masters where he just lost to in-form Shaun Murphy in the decider. But after finishing 2014 winning the Champion of Champions and the UK Championship, his 2015 didn't start as good as his fans hoped, defeats at the German Masters, The Masters and the World Championship knocked him in a bad place, questioned by fans and specialists, why can't he perform like he did from 2012 to 2014?

Well, in my opinion it's a matter of motivation, he dominated the game in 2012, 2013 and 2014, he was nearly unbeatable, but he's got nothing more to prove, and a defeat doesn't hit him as hard as it used to in the past, so it might have been tough to hear people criticizing him for not to do well something he didn't even need to be doing. I said here in the blog before the World Championship that he was needing a break, he didn't have this break, neither won the World Championship. Anyway, now we reach to another question: Could he recover his motivation?

He's already done that, if you don't listen to his weekly show on Phoenix FM called Midweek Matchzone (on every Thursday) you might don't know, but he has shown an incredible appetite for Snooker, when the World Cup was on he got extremely excited with it and he still looks like that. We all know Ronnie and we know he always have highs and lows, but in fact his motivation came back because he kept his cue away for a bit and then watched a great show of Snooker in the World Cup. The prove of it comes at the Pink Ribbon, a charity tournament organized by SWSA where the players have to pay their entry feed. It's not on TV so you don't have sponsors for it, this is pure and absolute Snooker, so just the fact that Ronnie entered it, is a great thing because shows he really wants to be playing Snooker. But now we know he's motivated again, we reach to the next question: He's 39, can he still play to his best?

Absolutely yes, he's a professional marathon runner, for me he could play at 45 still being the best, this would mean another 6 World Championships at the Top. Just look at players physically well that could find their peak in the 40's like Mark Davis, don't you think it could be with Ronnie? Obviously I'm realistic and after losing the last 2 World Championships, I don't get myself wondered with possible 3 or 4 more wins at the Crucible, as a fan my dream is just to have the opportunity of celebrate another World Championship win. However his form could make you optimistic, last year he won 2 Triple Crown events, and this year he played well at the Championship League, at the German Masters, at The Masters and at the World Championship despite not winning them. And even not having his season started yet The Rocket won the Pink Ribbon, tournament that even out of World Snooker's official calendar, had a high playing quality with 40 professionals including Barry Hawkins and Robert Milkins as well as the bests amateurs of the World, proved by Runner-Up being Darryn Walker who defeated the likes of Kyren Wilson, Barry Hawkins and Craig Steadman to reach the Final. On his his Phoenix Show he said he was very happy with his Snooker there, finishing with an "I'm back". 

You could not forget as well that he always comes back stronger when he's challenged, just remember 1997, 2001, 2008 and 2013. Well, one day his reign will be over, he cannot do this forever, however I don't think it's over yet. With his motivation back, and his Snooker fresh, I think Ronnie O`Sullivan can still comeback to the Top faster than you would believe. With what he's got in the tank, he could even win the next 6 World Championships, but let's be realistic, this is a kind of consistency that Ronnie never achieved and that he doesn't even looks like up to try. Anyway, winning titles under doubt has been the mark of a player who has won the World Championship ranked 24th in the World!

Ronnie O`Sullivan haven't yet decided what tournament he will pick to start his 2015/16 season officially, but sure some good times are coming up!

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