Ronnie O’Sullivan is one of the greatest snooker players the world has ever seen, and he’s currently ranked as the best on the planet. He’s expected to keep winning the major accolades, as few players can get close to him. However, there are indications that the Rocket’s career may be starting to wind down.
O’Sullivan recently announced that he was beginning to fall out of love with the game. At 46 years of age, there’s a chance that he may soon decide to hang up his cue.
O’Sullivan Leading the Betting Markets for Major Contests
There’s no doubt that O’Sullivan is the top snooker player in the world, and the betting markets reflect this. In the latest snooker odds, the Englishman is placed at 4/1 to win the World Championship. His closest competitors are Judd Trump and Neil Robertson, who are rated at 9/2 and 5/1 respectively.
O’Sullivan can also be found at 4/1 to win the Masters next year, highlighting how the current world champion and world number one ranked player is competing at the top of his game. It’s impressive that he has managed to stay at this level for so long, and he has picked up the record for the most ranking titles ever accrued at 39. He has been the world number one since April 2022 but has previously held that position on four other occasions for a total of more than five years.
Player Feels Out of Love for the Game
Despite his success and continuing achievements at the highest level, O’Sullivan has admitted that he feels somewhat out of love with the game. In a recent interview, he revealed that he experienced imposter syndrome and sometimes felt like he didn’t want to play the game. He claims that at his age, he shouldn’t even be playing, and these are worrying words for fans of the player.
Imposter syndrome is a psychological state when people believe that they don’t deserve to be in the position they find themselves in. This is a perfectly normal phenomenon, and it can happen to anyone. It can often occur when people start new jobs and question whether they have the skills needed to succeed in their chosen field. But it can also take place when people have found success and are starting to wonder how it came about and whether they deserve it or not.
Could O’Sullivan Soon Hang up His Cue?
After having won everything there is to win in snooker, it’s hard to imagine what O’Sullivan’s motivation would be to continue. He already stated that he felt he was too old to be in the game still, and this suggests that he may soon decide to call it quits on his glittering career.
Stephen Hendry was one of the best players the world has ever seen, and he retired at 43. There are few professional snooker players who make it past the age of 50, and there is evidence to show that players’ skills start to decline in their forties as well.
O’Sullivan’s career isn’t winding down, and this is highlighted by his incredible achievements at the top level. However, he may be psychologically in a place that will lead him to stop playing soon. The 46-year-old can look back on an incredible career when he eventually does decide to quit.