'Very aggressive' Ronnie O'Sullivan accused of embarrassing 'intimidated' rival

Ronnie O'Sullivan has been described as 'very aggressive' and 'intimidating' by a fellow snooker professional, who has come up against the 'Rocket' on 12 occasions

Ronnie O'Sullivan has been dubbed the most daunting figure on the snooker circuit by a fellow player, who has felt the sting of O'Sullivan's 'very aggressive' approach both on and off the baize.

Dominic Dale, a seasoned pro who started his career alongside O'Sullivan in 1992, has faced the 'Rocket' 12 times and knows all too well the impact of the 49-year-old's formidable presence.

The Welshman admitted to being rattled when playing against the seven-time world champion, attributing it to O'Sullivan's knack for capitalising on errors and his aura.On the Snooker Scene podcast, Dale shared his experiences, reports the Express. He said: "Ronnie's the only player that I can ever say I found intimidating to play against. Not just his style of play, because he can wipe you off the table in no time.

"It's just because he's such a character. He's a very aggressive person, Ronnie. In life generally, as well as on the table, and you feel that.

Dominic Dale in action

"It comes through when you're playing him and you're sat in your chair. If you make a mistake and he makes an 80-odd [break] in no time at all, it is frightening.

"You think, 'jeez, I can do this on the practice table, probably at half the speed, but I'm never likely to play with this much freedom in a match' and he can really embarrass you."All of a sudden he can make a difficult game look impossible. You can be 3-0 down in no time, playing Ronnie, and all of a sudden a black off the spot becomes 10 times harder. It's very intimidating."

O'Sullivan has been calling the shots in their head-to-head encounters since their initial clash during the qualifiers for the 1993 World Championship. Throughout his illustrious career, he's managed to snag victory in all but one of their match-ups.

Ronnie O'Sullivan has been told he can be "very aggressive"

Dale, aged 53 with a couple of titles and a former world number 19 ranking in 2000, famously trumped his long-standing adversary at the World Open in China in 2019, a win that helped him conquer the mental block of O'Sullivan's imposing prowess on the table.

"It took me a long, long time to get over the intimidatory factor that Ronnie always has," Dale confessed. "It's only the last five or six times I've played Ronnie, that I've actually played the player and not the person."He reflected further on the matter: "I have beaten him in China and I've lost a couple of close matches and it's nice to play a little bit against him because sometimes I have played Ronnie and just been completely inept because I've been completely overawed playing him."