Ronnie O’Sullivan called out his rivals on the snooker tour to up their game following his 6-2 win over Shaun Murphy to reach the Masters final. The Rocket can become the oldest player to lift the title and reflected on the younger generation, claiming that their “brains are quite slow”.
O’Sullivan had not been on top form prior to the semi-final against fierce rival Murphy and even apologised to the Alexandra Palace crowd for his performance, but returned to his excellent best against the Magician with a quickfire eight-frame victory to set up a Sunday final against either Ali Carter or Mark Allen.
The Rocket took three out of the first four frames, sandwiched by a Murphy 131 break, as Murphy threatened to get back into the match at 4-2 with another century.
But breaks of 90, 71 and 62 in O’Sullivan’s final three frame wins were enough to secure a place in the final and an emphatic roar from the Ally Pally crowd to one of their favourites signalled a statement victory from the veteran.
The 48-year-old can become both the youngest and oldest winner of the Masters, eclipsing 43-year-old Stuart Bingham in 2020. But when asked how he felt about that feat, O’Sullivan insisted that age was not on his mind and called on the up-and-coming stars to reach his level.
“Yeah I don’t feel that old,” O’Sullivan told the BBC. “I know my age but I feel young in my mind, I feel young when I’m round the table, I feel a lot younger when I’m around the table than I do when I am playing these younger players – they look old! Their brains are quite slow. I feel like my brain is pretty quick around the snooker table which is enough. They need to get their act together.”
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