Ronnie O’Sullivan was his outspoken self following his latest English Open match against Si Jiahui. The Rocket defeated his Chinese foe 4-2 to progress through to the fourth round where Zhang Anda awaits.
It was a patchy display from O’Sullivan, who has been suffering from tennis elbow flare-ups throughout the tournament. He was grimacing in agony when he beat Andrew Pagett in his opening tie but produced an excellent performance to make short work of Jackson Page the next day.
He was unconvincing again against Si but was able to draw upon his vast experience in the sport to see off the fast-rising 21-year old. O’Sullivan later described his performance as “awful” in a scathing assessment.
He told Eurosport: “I thought it was awful to be honest with you but sometimes I’ve watched back my matches when I feel awful but then I think ‘as it happens it wasn’t as bad as I thought’.
“I am just trying to be kind to myself out there, sometimes a voice in my head can really criticise and I’m the world’s worst for that. I am just trying to say some nice things, not be hard on myself and try to recover at least put up with the feelings of not being on your game.
“But I am enjoying playing, I am battling out there, I want to play, I want to win as many matches as I can, I want to come back and play tonight. So, I’m giving it all I can.”
O’Sullivan plays Zhang next as he continues his bid for his second English Open crown. His one and only title came back in 2017 when he beat fellow countryman Kyren Wilson 9-2 at the Barnsley Metrodome.
World No 57 Zhang is currently enjoying his deepest run in the tournament having not been able to progress past the last 64 in previous years. He defeated Ben Mertens 4-0 in the last 128, Anthony McGill 4-1 in the last 64 and Elliot Slessor 3-1 last time out in the round of 32.
