Judd Trump has rallied behind Ronnie O’Sullivan after explaining the immense pressure that the snooker icon is under.
The Rocket made the shock decision to withdraw from the Masters last week just two days ahead of his opening match against John Higgins. That call came after he had snapped his cue against Robert Milkins.
O’Sullivan has since issued an update on his welfare, claiming he was “alright, not too bad”. And now one of his rivals Trump has issued a message of support to him, as well as Mark Selby, amid the pair’s ongoing battles away from the snooker table.
Speaking with Eurosport, Trump said: “I mean everyone struggles at points in their career I think especially when you’re not winning or achieving what you know you can. When you have the success of Ronnie and Mark and sometimes get brought back to reality, I think it’s very hard to deal with.
“When you go from winning the World Championship every year, or Ronnie winning multiple events, and then you can’t quite turn it on, but you’re not really doing anything different, you kind of don’t know where to go sometimes.
“And I think I’m someone who’s very proud that I’ve always maintained sort of a balance and not drove myself mad with my results and I’ve been able to keep this very consistent level and mentality throughout my career.
“I think it is extremely difficult with the pressure especially what Ronnie is under. For the last 35 years I think. It’s extremely difficult, he’s expected to win every single game he plays in and just with the success that Mark had – the World Championship, the Masters – he was unbeatable for five years.
“So I think they’re both amazing players. I hope they both get back very, very happy very soon and see them back on the table and compete against them.”
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O’Sullivan has also sent a strong message to World Snooker amid his ongoing battles. He has suggested that the sport’s chiefs should appoint a doctor that stars can talk to if they are struggling while on tour.
He claimed that it would certainly help players avoiding mental health issues. O’Sullivan said: “I think World Snooker should have somebody. In football, they have masseuses, people sorting out injuries.
“I think snooker should have someone at the tournament employed as like if someone is struggling, they’ve come off the table, ‘do you need 10 minutes with someone?’
“I’m not saying everyone will go in there but I just think a lot of players suffer in silence basically. I can tell, just look at them and they’re struggling. They should have someone to go and talk to.”
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