Ronnie O’Sullivan has started how he means to go on at the World Championship after completing a record-breaking victory over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh on Monday morning.
The five-time champion blew Un-Nooh away with a whirlwind 10-1 first-round victory in just 108 minutes – smashing the previous Crucible record by 41 minutes.
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Living up to his nickname, The Rocket knows speed will be key to a successful World Championship if he is to lift a sixth title in Sheffield.
“I always think if I can play quick and with accuracy, that’s when I’m at my best. It also makes my opponent a little bit weary, hesitant, off their stride, because everything can happen so quickly,” he said after his win.
“If I can play like that I’ve got a great chance, especially as I get a bit older, because obviously I don’t pot as well as I used to.
“You just have to play to your strengths. My greatest asset is that I’m able to take my practice form to the match table, I’ve always played better in matches that I have in practice. It’s not something I have to work on, I don’t always play well but I enjoy the battle.”
O’Sullivan is also relishing the “tranquillity” at the Crucible, although he was slightly surprised by the fake crowd noise used during his sessions.
He added: “I wish they’d have told me! I thought the building was falling apart. I thought we’ve got Covid-19 and now all of a sudden the Crucible is about to get imploded. I thought ‘What was going on back-stage there?’ and he [the referee] told me it’s just fake crowd noise. I thought, ‘ah right, cool’.
On the behind-closed-doors aspect he added: “Phil Taylor was texting me and he says he’s been self-isolating for 30-odd years. It’s true. When you play sport and you have the crowds, you kind of want to get away from that.
My whole life has been about keeping it quiet and as simple as I can, that’s why I’m into running and cooking, a lot of stuff at home. I don’t go out to restaurants, takeaways are fantastic for me, it’s kind of how I’ve lived my life – now I can go to snooker tournaments and still have that tranquillity.
Up next for O’Sullivan is a second-round meeting with Ding Junhui, with the 11th seed narrowly seeing off Mark King 10-9.
Ding is chasing a first world crown, and O’Sullivan believes the pressure is much greater on those chasing a maiden triumph.
He added: “It’s still the Crucible, it’s still the World Championships. Everybody wants to win it, especially if you haven’t won it. For me I’ve won it five times, yeah it’s great, but there’s a lot less pressure on me because I’ve already done it.
“But there’s still pressure there – everybody wants that trophy on their mantelpiece.”
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