O'Sullivan lambasts his form as 'rubbish' despite victory

Published on Tuesday 14 October 2008 23:30

RONNIE O'Sullivan took a pot-shot at himself despite progressing to the last 16 of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix.

The world champion and world No1 hit back from two frames down to beat China's Liang Wenbo 5-2 at this season's 502,100 tournament. But the 2004 Grand Prix champion was unhappy with the way he played at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow.

O'Sullivan said: "I was rubbish, that was an embarrassing performance. I've played rubbish all season. My season has been error-ridden, but luckily people keep missing against me. It's making me look good. I've always been stubborn and I hate losing, but I'm capable of worse than that, I was so bad. When I win I'm chuffed to bits, but I've not played well for a long time."

Wenbo won two scrappy opening frames to edge into the lead, but the Rocket finally raised his game to win five successive frames to progress.

The three-time world champion now plays Marco Fu, the defending champion, in a repeat of last season's final. The pair face each other in the next phase tomorrow afternoon.

O'Sullivan said: "At 2-0, I just thought everyone must have been thinking that I wanted to go home, it was embarrassing. They probably thought I didn't want to win and I'd booked my flight home. I thought I could get accused of throwing this game. But, thank God, it only lasted for two and a half frames."

O'Sullivan managed a top break of 103 and two other runs of 56, while Wenbo's best effort was just 31.

In the other afternoon match, Ali Carter – who O'Sullivan beat in last season's World Championship final in Sheffield – beat Stoke qualifier Dave Harold 5-4 in their first-round meeting. The Tiptree professional fought back from 3-1 down to triumph despite a high break of 61, his only effort over 50 in the match.

Carter said: "It was a very tough match. Dave played very well, he had some good breaks, so it was nice to win. I'm hoping to enjoy my snooker this season, get into the top four in the rankings and win some cash."