Ronnie O’Sullivan would only coach if he thought player 'could become best in the world' and challenge for world title
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Updated 05/10/2023 at 19:25 GMT+1
Ronnie O’Sullivan claimed a 4-2 win over Si Jiahui at the English Open in Brentwood on Thursday. Following the win, O'Sullivan spoke to Eurosport and was asked whether he would consider offering help to other players. The Rocket cited Ray Reardon as an example and would only help out if he could make the same impact as the Welshman had on his career.
Highlights: O'Sullivan finishes strong to beat Si and reach last 16
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Ronnie O’Sullivan feels the rising stars of snooker need to sharpen their match craft, and says he would only help another player if he could make the sort of impact that Ray Reardon had on him.
O’Sullivan is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, but there was a fear in the late 1990s that he would never turn the promise into titles.
A link up with Reardon in the early 2000s transformed O’Sullivan’s game, as hard match play was added to the shot-making brilliance.
The link-up with six-time world champion Reardon paid off as O’Sullivan went on to dominate the sport, and he now has seven Crucible crowns to his name - as well as a host of other titles and records.
He is still going strong at the age of 47, and beat rising star Si Jiahui at the English Open on Thursday despite being below his best.
After the win, O’Sullivan told Eurosport that the key is to know how to win when not playing well - and cited himself, John Higgins, Mark Williams and Mark Selby as examples to follow.
“It is hard, you are playing against Higgins, myself, Williams,” O’Sullivan said. “We grew up playing in pro-ams.
“We learnt how to win when not playing well, we’ve learnt how to adapt, we are quite foxy sorts of players.
“We can have so many different approaches in one game, switch it up a bit. Selby does that as well.
“That is what you need to have to be able to win, as you are not always going to be able to play well.”
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O'Sullivan not happy with 'awful' display but 'enjoying battling' to win
Video credit: TNT Sports
O’Sullivan was asked about the possibility of lending help to the likes of Si, but said he would need to be confident of making an impact to jump onboard.
He said: “If it was what I wanted to do, I would only work with someone that I thought could be the best player in the world and win the World Championship - and If I felt I could add something.
“With Ray Reardon, I know how much he added to my game, and I feel I would have to have that sort of impact on a player to be able to warrant being there and around them.
"I would not want to waste someone’s time.
“It is a tricky job to take on as you do not want to make them worse."
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