Ronnie O'Sullivan had typical response after Stephen Hendry shut down Kyren Wilson

 Ronnie O'Sullivan was previously asked about an issue during last year's World Snooker Championship that caused Stephen Hendry to disagree with Kyren Wilson.

Ronnie O'Sullivan was asked about an issue at last year's World Snooker Championship

A controversial debate surrounded the World Snooker Championship a year ago, but it was a subject that Ronnie O’Sullivan refused to get dragged into. The seven-time winner reached the semi-finals this time around, but was asked if smaller pockets had played a part in his quarter-final exit in 2024.

Kyren Wilson won last year’s tournament at the Crucible following his 18-14 final win over qualifier Jak Jones. Despite his triumph, Wilson argued that the pocket sizes had been altered, leading snooker icons Shaun Murphy and Stephen Hendry to also weigh in on the topic. However, O’Sullivan chose to bat the suggestion away in a typically laid-back fashion.

Shortly after becoming world champion, Wilson shared his concerns about the tighter pocket sizes on the Snooker Club podcast: “I do think so. I must admit, when it’s gone to one-table I don’t think it was as tight as the two tables. Maybe it was because of the new cloth for the semis, so it’s going to slide in more. Then for the final they change the cushion cloth so it slides in more as well.

“I remember playing John [Higgins] last year, and he played a black down the cushion, and he was walking [to his next shot]. There’s no way that would go in this year so they’re definitely tighter than last year, 100 per cent. And obviously I’ve won it, so they’re mega tight!”

However, O’Sullivan dismissed the suggestion that the pockets had become smaller and claimed it should not have been a factor for the world's best players. “They seem all right to me. If you hit them sweet, they go in; if you don’t, they don’t go in,” O’Sullivan explained. “Simple as. That’s always been my motto. The tighter the better, really. It makes you more accurate.”

Kyren Wilson spoke about the pocket sizes during his world title run in 2024

Seven-time champion Hendry was more aligned with O’Sullivan’s way of thinking. “There's been a lot of talk about the tight pockets. I'm not out there playing, the players are playing - so you've got to trust their opinions,” the pundit said.

“But what happened to all the so-called best players in the world [who were knocked out early]? Ronnie [O’Sullivan], Judd [Trump], Mark Williams, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen - the new world No.1. I'm sure I'll get a backlash from the players saying the tables were tight, but I say what I see.”

However, current Masters champion Murphy backed up Wilson’s argument, stating: “The pockets are much smaller. These new batch of Star tables we’ve been using all season, they are more difficult. I don’t know who made the decision to make the pockets smaller but they probably should have consulted with the players first.”

Stephen Hendry disagreed with Kyren Wilson

Defending champion Wilson suffered a first-round exit in Sheffield this year, with Zhao Xintong taking his crown. The Chinese star emphatically defeated O’Sullivan 17-7 in their semi-final match last week.

Following his loss to Zhao, O’Sullivan told SportsBoom: “I wasn’t that bothered to be fair to you. I wasn’t surprised, I’ve been playing like that a lot in practice. It’s just hard to get my head around it. I can’t even fix it, that’s the problem. I know I said I’d like to give it two years, but if I’m gonna play like it, it’s pretty pointless. It’s not good.”

While O’Sullivan cast doubt over his future in the sport, he spoke glowingly about his opponent. Ahead of Zhao winning against Mark Williams in the final, O’Sullivan said: "I think it would be amazing. I think if he did win he would be a megastar. He's still very big in China as it is. But if he becomes world champion it would just be amazing for snooker and for his life as well.

"He can definitely get over the line. I think he'll have more of a test (in the final). That will be a proper test for him. He played great. You have to give credit where it's due. We've got a really nice relationship. I'm always trying to help him if I can."