Ronnie O’Sullivan warns rivals he ‘loves it’ when he’s criticised one year on from Hossein Vafaei comments

ByNigel Chiu

Updated 15/04/2023 at 21:48 GMT

Ronnie O’Sullivan was reminded about Hossein Vafaei’s comments from 12 months ago that he should retire from snooker, after being told the Iranian could be his opponent in the last 16 at the World Snooker Championship. Should Vafaei beat Ding Junhui in the opening round, he will face O’Sullivan at the Crucible on Friday, following The Rocket’s battling win over Pang Junxu.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has warned his rivals to not “rattle my cage” after he battled his way into the second round of the World Championship.

O’Sullivan revealed he was carrying a bug during his 10-7 victory over Pang Junxu and will face Ding Junhui or Hossein Vafaei on Friday.

Vafaei called on The Rocket to retire last year and stated he was “not good for the game”, before O’Sullivan went on to lift a seventh Crucible Crown.

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When reminded in the Eurosport studio that he could face the Iranian in the last 16, O’Sullivan asked: “What did he say about me, I can’t remember?”

Eurosport expert Alan McManus responded: “I think he said you should retire.”

O’Sullivan replied: “Has he been saying much about me this year? I think he’s learned to be quiet.

“Don’t rattle my cage. I love it when they call me out, I love it when they give me stick. I just love it.

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“It turns me on. I get off on it. I need something to find so I’m hoping someone says something and hopefully I get better so I can have a reason to perform.

“They are not going to say anything now are they because they probably realised it’s not a good tactic to play. We’ll see, but we’ll have some fun.”

O’Sullivan, who is looking to break Stephen Hendry’s modern-era record of seven world titles, says he will rest up as much as possible before returning to the Crucible on Friday.

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He looked set for a comfortable win over Pang on the opening day of the World Championship when leading 9-4, but the Chinese player rattled off three consecutive frames to put pressure on the defending champion.

O’Sullivan found a way over the line and thinks Pang will be a player that is here to stay in the years to come.

“I rate him, he’s very good,” said the seven-time world champion. “He’s going to be around a long time.

“If you give someone a sniff and start missing a few, all these guys will take you to the cleaners.

“You have to impose yourself and I didn’t. I did at spells, not enough. But it is what it is, I’m through to the next round and will see what happens.

“My job is to pot balls, I tried my best today, gave it all I did and I’m grateful to be through to the next round.”

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