Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘feeling better’ after worrying snooker comments

Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed he is feeling better after struggling with illness during his first-round win over Pang Junxu at the Snooker World Championships. The seven-time champion left fans worried after a laboured 10-7 over the world No 35 on Saturday but he is now looking forward to the rest of the tournament.

O’Sullivan is currently the bookies’ favourite to win the championship in Sheffield as he seeks to claim a record eighth world title. However, he left fans worried about his health following his opening match as he battled a bug, admitting he was struggling after sealing the victory and suggesting he needed to get straight back to bed.

However, it appears he is now on the mend and the 47-year-old has given a positive update ahead of his second-round match with Hossein Vafaei.

“Yeah, I feel better,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport. “I had three days just staying in the house – no running, still no running – just resting up as much as I can and just trying to focus on the tournament and give myself a good chance.

“It doesn’t matter at this time because you don’t need to practice. All the work you have done through the season – sometimes you have some time off and that does you good.

“It has just been about an hour here or there on the table and you quickly get your feelings back so it does not interrupt any preparation or anything.”

There is a tense rivalry brewing between O’Sullivan and his second-round opponent Vafaei after he called on the snooker legend to retire last year for being disrespectful.

The Iranian has fanned the flames of conflict ahead of their encounter this year, suggesting the match between them at the Crucible will be a chance for him to reap revenge after O’Sullivan’s ‘disrespect’ last year.

“He is a legend of the sport but he is such a nice person when he’s asleep,” Vafaei told BBC Sport after his first-round win over Ding Junhui. “He disrespected me before and God has given me an opportunity for revenge, so it depends on me. I have to stand up in front of him if I want to be world champion. Get your popcorn, everyone.”

Vafaei and O’Sullivan’s best-of-25 contest at the Crucible gets underway at 2.30pm with a place in the quarter-finals against Mark Williams or Luca Brecel at stake.