Ronnie O’Sullivan has been putting in some hard yards ahead of his return to the Masters, working on the practice table in Ireland and reportedly loving the experience.
The Rocket is set to take on Neil Robertson in a blockbuster opening round match at Alexandra Palace on Wednesday January 14.
The 50-year-old has won the Masters eight times, more than any other player, but skipped the event last year after he ‘lost the plot’ at the Championship League days beforehand, snapping his cue in frustration with his form.
O’Sullivan is in a much better place now and is bidding for a ninth title in north London next week, hoping that his work at Celbridge Snooker Club will stand him in good stead.
Fergal O’Brien, the former pro who played at the Celbridge club from 2008 until his retirement in 2024, set up the Rocket to play two of the professionals he now coaches: Antrim’s Jordan Brown and Cork’s Aaron Hill.
‘He’s been staying over here the last little bit. He’s a friend over here who he’s been staying with,’ O’Brien told Metro. ‘Then he was in touch looking for games.
‘The club in Celbridge has two Star tables there. He needed to practice and he was looking for a couple of games against good players. Obviously I work with Jordan and Aaron, so I said, “I know they’d be delighted to play with you.” Sure enough they came down and had a couple of games.
‘It was great for the club having him playing and then obviously great for the two lads getting to practice with him, you couldn’t get any better with that.
‘They’ve been preparing well anyway over the Christmas and New Year. It’s obviously a bonus getting a game with Ronnie as well.’
The club in the town just outside Dublin is ‘old school’ and O’Brien got the impression that the seven-time world champion very much enjoyed the surroundings.
‘I was there the day he played Jordan and Aaron. He seems to really enjoy being around and playing in the club,’ said the former world number nine.
‘It’s a real old school snooker club and over the new year it’s been busy as well, so there’s always a good atmosphere there. But it’s good because he can just come in and play his games and he doesn’t get disturbed.
‘The owners, Phil and Johanna Martin, they’re very good. It was the same when I always played over the years, when you come into the main hall where the table’s are nobody’s allowed in there unless you’re actually coming in to play. So he’s just come in practicing on his own or playing with the lads and totally engrossed, so that’s ideal for him.’
It’s been a tricky season for the Rocket so far in terms of results, but from what O’Brien saw, his game looked in good shape.
‘It’s hard to know, only Ronnie knows how he sees it,’ said the Irishman. ‘But in talking to him, he’s in good form in himself and he loved being in the club and playing. He was certainly playing well enough! Who knows from there.’
O’Brien hung up his cue in 2024 after 33 years on the professional tour and is as busy as ever with coaching and media work.
After an epic career on the baize, there was some fear of what would come after retirement, but he says the biggest shock about retiring is that he has not longed for his great love.
‘The only real surprise is that I don’t miss playing, which I’m amazed at to be honest, because I genuinely loved it so much,’ he said.
‘A few years ago, the thoughts of not playing, I wouldn’t have been in a happy place thinking about it.
‘Maybe it’ ran its course, but the fact that I’ve gone straight into coaching, with Aaron and then Jordan and Martin O’Donnell now, it’s been an easy transition.
‘It’s also been busy in the club, we’re very busy coaching here in Ireland, particularly in Celbridge because there’s a lot of good players. So that’s kept me very busy and then doing the bit of commentary as well.
‘It’s funny. A couple of friends of mine said that going back a few years, they were a bit worried about me. They said, “God, he loves snookers so much, when he’s not playing he could go into a dark place.”
‘There was probably some merit in that. If I wasn’t so happy doing all those other things, it’s possible you might be a bit mournful, but not at all. The switch as a player just went off.’
