- Ronnie O’Sullivan extended his record to 23 World Champions quarter-finals
- The seven-time winner of the competition thrashed Pang Junxu 13-4 on Monday
- He will now take on Si Jiahui – who defeated him in Saudi Arabia earlier this year
Ronnie O’Sullivan says he is in ‘hell’ despite racing into a record-extending 23rd World Championship quarter-final.
The seven-time Crucible champion hit a break of 95 in the first frame of last night’s session to complete a resounding 13-4 second-round win over Pang Junxu.
But fifth seed O’Sullivan, who meets 2023 semi-finalist Si Jiahui in the last eight on Tuesday, insists he is still out of sorts on his return from a three-month break.
‘I feel so unconfident, it’s horrible,’ said the Rocket. ‘It’s hell. Feeling wise, this is the worst I’ve ever felt.
‘I don’t know where my back arm is, I don’t know where my left arm is, sometimes I can’t even see where I am hitting it. It’s just guesswork.
‘I’ve completely overachieved as far as this tournament is concerned.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has claimed that he is in ‘hell’ despite breezing into the last-eight
He reaches his record-extending 23rd World Championship quarter-final despite claiming that sometimes ‘I can’t even see where I’m hitting it’
He will now take on Si Jiahui, who beat him in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, in the quarter-final
‘I’ve won this tournament many times before playing what I consider badly, so it can be done.
‘But when you’re nearly 50 and you’re struggling to bend down and do your shoelace, it gets a bit hard.
‘The next round is a big acid test because he buried me in Saudi Arabia this year.
‘The players I played in the first two rounds had enough chances to put me away and didn’t – but I think this guy will.’
