Ronnie O'Sullivan has pledged to start skipping lucrative exhibition events as he looks to rediscover his former glories over the next two years. The man from Essex is hunting an eighth World Snooker Championship title and booked his place in the second round on Tuesday. He breezed past his old foe Ali Carter in a 10-4 thumping to set up a Crucible showdown with Pang Junxu.
O'Sullivan was playing his first match since January and looked close to his best, having practiced relentlessly with a new cue before travelling to Sheffield. He has been vocal about growing disillusioned with snooker over the years, but is determined to rekindle his love for the game.
In recent seasons, the 49-year-old has played in several big-money exhibitions in Asia and the Middle East. Those trips could soon be a thing of the past, though, with O'Sullivan willing to skip them in order to focus on playing tournaments that carry more weight.
"I am going to give myself two years," he told TNT Sports after beating Carter. "There will be no more exhibitions or distractions off the table. I will help out at the academy in Saudi Arabia. I enjoy the work I am doing there.
"Hopefully we can do something similar in the UK because my true love is to help people and give back. That helps me to learn from other people. Otherwise it will just be tournaments and getting fit."
O'Sullivan has openly struggled with his mental health in recent years, having cited stage fright when pulling out of tournaments in the past. He is determined to get to the root of the problem, which he hopes will bring about a return to the top of the sport.
"I am trying to get away from what I know is the problem," he added. "It got to the point where I couldn't watch myself play because I could see what was wrong, but I didn't know how to correct it.
"I am working on that and at the moment it feels really strange. When I first rebuilt my game in 2000 with [coach] Frank Adamson it took a year before it felt great. That's what I have to do again.
"I need to create space so I can get the cue through. There was a time where I wasn't able to pull the cue back and forwards, which was scary. I had that before years ago and managed to play my way out of it.
"This time, where I have changed my alignment and certain things, years of that have mounted up and I have lost all connection with the cue. My timing, touch and feeling have gone."
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