Ronnie O'Sullivan 'didn't play well' in UK Championship first-round exit, urged to play in Masters and be more 'active' by Alan McManus

Ronnie O'Sullivan admitted he "didn't play well" in his UK Championship first-round defeat to Zhou Yuelong, and said he is still unsure whether he will play at January's Masters event. O'Sullivan's competitive return to the UK for the first time in seven months ended with an early exit in York. Despite scoring highly, O'Sullivan was punished for numerous mistakes in a gripping afternoon session.

O'Sullivan: 'I didn't play well enough' in first-round exit, 'not going to comment' on Masters

Video credit: TNT Sports

Ronnie O'Sullivan felt he "didn't play well" as he was defeated in the first round of the UK Championship by Zhou Yuelong.

O'Sullivan, an eight-time UK champion, scored higher than his counterpart but was ultimately undone by some punishing errors in his breaks - with Zhou clinically stealing four frames in his 6-4 victory.

Defeat for The Rocket means his return to the UK is a short-lived one, having not appeared competitively on home soil since his World Championship semi-final defeat to Zhao Xintong in May.

Halo World Championship

Why World Championship is set to be unpredictable thriller

04/04/2026 at 13:10

He ultimately had no complaints over the outcome in Tuesday's afternoon session at the Barbican in York.

"I didn't play well enough to win," the seven-time world champion told TNT Sports. "I didn't think he played great either.

"But he won quite a few close frames and, if I'd have won that, I'd have had to improve drastically to have a chance in the next match.

'He will be fuming' - O'Sullivan misses routine red 'out of nowhere'

Video credit: TNT Sports

"It wasn't the best performance, but on the level of play, he probably deserved to win."

Asked if his lack of match activity in recent months played a part, O'Sullivan replied: "I don't think so, just didn't play well, that's all."

The Rocket, though, insisted he "enjoyed being out there", having regularly missed UK ranking events since the start of the 2024/25 campaign.

"I really enjoyed every match I played this season," he said. "I didn't enjoy Saudi much, when I lost to Shaun [Murphy], but that was probably the one match I thought [that]. Every other match this season I have really enjoyed playing."

'What is going on?' - 'Remarkable' scenes as O'Sullivan, Zhou buckle under pressure of tense clash

Video credit: TNT Sports

O'Sullivan, however, refused to be drawn on whether he would play in January's Masters event at Alexandra Palace - having withdrawn last year just days ahead of its commencement.

Asked if he was 50/50 about participating, he replied: "I don't know. I'm not even going to comment on that. Just see how it goes."

O'Sullivan added: "I don't know, I'll try and play as much as I can. I've got some tournaments to play, Hong Kong, China, maybe Masters, maybe Germany."

'Play in it!' McManus says

TNT Sports snooker expert Alan McManus had been vocal about O'Sullivan putting more hours back into snooker, and urged the eight-time Masters champion to take part in next month's competition.

McManus feels O'Sullivan "needs" snooker, as much as snooker needs him - but feels the 49-year-old has to "convince himself" he still enjoys competing at the top level.

"I actually thought in that interview he looked quite emotional, to me," McManus said. "We want him in the game, but more than that, Ronnie needs to be in this game.

"It's a huge part of his life. It goes without saying, but I do think he needs it. He just has to convince himself of that.

'Looks like he's hurting' - McManus urges O'Sullivan to play in Masters, says he 'needs' snooker

Video credit: TNT Sports

"He has to figure these things out. I'd like to see him, as a snooker fan, being busy and active, getting back to enjoying it.

"You see John Higgins, he's loving it, so is Willo [Mark Williams]. Ronnie is just caught in a place where he doesn't know."

McManus added: "There you go, 'I might play in the Masters' - play in it.

"Last year, John Higgins comes out of the draw. He withdrew two or three days before, a strange decision for me.

"He's the best that's ever walked the planet at this game so play in it, do it. That's what I want to see."

McManus said the defeat to Zhou will "hurt" O'Sullivan, but feels that is ultimately a good thing.

"It looks to me like Ronnie is hurting there, when he's speaking, a glint in his eye," McManus said.

"That will hurt him. I'm glad it's hurting him because it should do. He's better than that.

"There are flashes of good stuff in there, there's always going to be. I just want him to be more active than he has been."

Meanwhile, 12-time world champion Reanne Evans felt there were many factors at play in O'Sullivan's first-round defeat - not least the ever-improving standard on the snooker tour.

'Absolute gem of a shot' helps O'Sullivan hit lightning century break

Video credit: TNT Sports

"He's not played a great deal, not played a lot in the UK," Evans said. "It's a different feel, major event, packed house, great venue, a lot of pressure on your shoulders that you put on yourself, let alone anyone else.

"Being the greatest of all time, there's that added pressure; people expect you to be pristine all the time, and it doesn't happen.

"For me, I just thought he was thinking 'try and get over the line, get on the practice table, figure something out and kick on from there'.

"But it's so hard to do when the opponents are so good. Zhou played okay, but wasn't at his ultimate best. It shows the standard on tour right now."

Watch and stream the 2025/26 snooker season, including the UK Championship, live on TNT Sports and discovery+

Snooker

How to watch the World Snooker Championship live on TNT Sports and HBO Max

05/04/2026 at 10:39

Halo World Championship

Ronnie O’Sullivan is a 'religious experience' like Roger Federer

26/03/2026 at 13:41