Ronnie O’Sullivan played through the pain barrier as he survived a mad dash home from the Far East to win on home Essex soil in the English Open today. The Rocket had been out in Macau for a lucrative exhibition against old pal Jimmy White over the weekend – and his flight back from Hong Kong only touched down on Monday morning.
That was just hours before the world No1 took on Welsh journeyman and world No118 Andrew Pagett in Brentwood. But he shrugged off the jetlag and also a visibly painful flare-up of his troublesome tennis elbow to record a 4-0 whitewash victory.
For much of the contest seven-time world champion O’Sullivan, 47, was grimacing in agony and clutching the elbow of his cueing right arm with his left hand. But Pagett was simply unable to take advantage of any cracks in the O’Sullivan game and quickly slumped to an emphatic loss.
O’Sullivan said: “The elbow is no good really. I have tried resting it, and I must get back on the painkillers. It will be all right once I take them, but long term I don’t want to keep taking them. I might take another cortisone injection which again I don’t really want to do as it weakens the muscles or something, whatever.
“It started in 2022…well, I had it before in 2021 but then it was all right. Then in 2022 I think I went in the gym and was lifting too heavy weights. And from then I could hardly lift a cup of tea all the way to my mouth.
“From that moment on it has been very weak, injections sort it out but then something happens and it just goes back to not so good. It’s tennis elbow, and I need to someone to help me rehab it.
“There was a shot where I felt it today, up to then it had felt all right. And then a couple of times after when I was doing a shot with power, a long red, and it went.
“I was trying to squeeze it and do all the exercises which you are supposed to do, but in the end I was just happy to get over the line. So I will take painkillers now for this tournament that allow me to hit the ball as hard as I would like.
“It can affect your confidence, and then you don’t commit completely to the shot. I saw Mark Williams win the British Open on Sunday night and every time he or John Higgins wins one from our era, I think ‘Happy Days’.”
The first frame was unusually scrappy for one involving O’Sullivan, but he eventually went on to claim it. Breaks of 69 and 62 made it 3-0, and O’Sullivan despite the clear pain he was suffering soon closed it out. Meanwhile Ding Junhui survived being docked a frame for arriving without the right clothing.
The former world finalist had to send a mate out to Marks and Spencers to get the correct Home Nations black trousers and a black shirt, having brought in error a shiny brown suit with waistcoat and white shirt. But he recovered to clinch a 4-3 win over Chinese compatriot Ma Hailong.
