Ronnie O'Sullivan miss branded his worst ever by stunned commentators at Wuhan Open - 'Absolute shocker'

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A frustrated Ronnie O'Sullivan bemoaned his lack of confidence despite beating Mark Selby to reach the Wuhan Open semi-finals - and it was on display again in a shocking moment during the fifth frame of his last-four defeat to Chang Bingyu.

'Absolute shocker' - O'Sullivan fumes after 'horrible' miss

Video credit: TNT Sports

The Rocket fought back from two frames down to go into the interval at 2-2 but appeared out of sorts on Friday as he eventually crashed out 6-3.

And an uncharacteristically poor miss in the fifth frame proved costly, allowing Chang to return to the table and regain his lead.

O'Sullivan was in the middle of a tidy break when he eyed up a simple black. But, incredibly, he missed, before moving as if to hit his cue against the table in anger.

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"Gee whiz. Wow! What a horrible miss," said Alan McManus on TNT Sports commentary. "As bad a miss as I've ever seen from O'Sullivan, end of story.

"That was an absolute shocker."

O'Sullivan lost the following frame to go 4-2 behind and was soon dumped out 6-3.

It was hardly a vintage display from one of snooker's greats, who labelled his recent struggles for form a "disease."

"Am I playing well enough to play every shot that I need to play? I haven't been," O'Sullivan said before his semi-final.

"I'm worried that whoever I play against at the moment, it doesn't matter if it was Mark Selby or No. 128 in the world. I'm still playing with zero confidence.

"But I'm working hard on my game. I'm on the practice table a lot. I'm trying to figure out how to get out of this, I call it the disease, because it feels like the method I took on has kind of ruined me.

"I've got no cue power, no sense of direction. I don't know where the balls are going. As a player, you always have some anchors to hang on to.

"I used to have like four or five. If one wasn't working, I'd try another one to get me going. At the moment, I just have nothing. I haven't for four years.

"It's been a nightmare. But I'm going to give it a really good go to try and cure the disease - it's easier to call it a disease - and if I can that will be great.

"I think 18 months is a fair amount of time to unlearn it and maybe find some flow. If I play alright and I cue alright, I know I can still win tournaments. I don't think the competition's that good and I don't think I'm that bad, I'm just not cuing the ball well.

"The balls are just not doing what I know they should be doing, or what I used to be capable of doing."

'I'd hate to finish my career like that'

O'Sullivan was self-critical again in the wake of his semi-final loss to Chang.

"The disease came back big time today," he said. "If I'm honest I don't think I will ever get over it.

"I will see out the next 18 months and see how we go. I don't want to throw the towel in just yet. I've committed to playing until then.

"I want to give myself a chance. I'd hate to finish my career on performances like that."

'Special moment' - Bingyu punishes O'Sullivan 'off day' to reach final

Video credit: TNT Sports

Chang, 24, secured his first ever victory against O'Sullivan, who has not won a ranking event for more than two years.

"Every time I play against Ronnie, it's a pleasure," Chang said. "He probably wasn't in the best form today, and I managed to take some of the opportunities that came my way."

Chang will play either Xiao Guodong or Zhao Xintong in Saturday's final - live on TNT Sports.

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