O'Sullivan, who returned to the snooker arena, did not collapse and advanced towards the goal of winning the World Championships eight times

Ronnie O'Sullivan previously said that he was "worried" about returning to snooker and fearing that he would "collapse" in his first match since January. However, it turns out that O'Sullivan's worries are somewhat unnecessary. The 49-year-old O'Sullivan defeated Ali Carter 10-4 in the first round of the 2025 World Snooker Championship that ended on the 23rd local time.

Ronnie O'Sullivan

However, news of his participation in this World Championship was not confirmed until late last week, after suffering a defeat in the Snooker Champions League in January, where he broke his club and threw it in the trash after the game, not playing in any games for three months.

O'Sullivan said: "I lost my enthusiasm to play because I couldn't attack. I've always been an advocate of offense. I had to play a different match that I didn't like and it felt like I couldn't express myself, so it got really tough. O'Sullivan has won the World Snooker Championship seven times, and his goal is to become the first person in modern history to achieve eight World Championship titles.

Ronnie O'Sullivan

Asked if there have been a few times in the past week when he thought he had made a mistake in returning to the snooker scene, O'Sullivan said: "Yes, exactly right. I thought, 'What am I doing here, exposing myself, (probably) breaking down inside, collapsing there?' All of this flashed through my mind. I told this to (sportsman) Steve Peters and he said 'I'm here – I'll get you through the first game'. "I'm a little scared to play. It's an intimidating venue anyway, but it's about getting on the bike and racing again, and I'm really proud that I did it "even if I lose, it's okay." I made a breakthrough. There is still a lot of work to be done. ”

After defeating Carter to advance, O'Sullivan will face Chinese player Pang Junxu in the round of 16 of this World Championships

According to the British newspaper The Independent, O'Sullivan will still be a favourite for bettors even if he has not played recently, remembering that the "Rocket" retained the world championship title in 2013, even though he had only played one game before. After defeating Carter to advance, O'Sullivan will face Chinese player Pang Junxu in the round of 16 of this World Championships.