Ronnie O’Sullivan was undecided on whether he would play at the World Snooker Championship this year as recently as Wednesday, but two conversations convinced him to return to the Crucible.
The Rocket has not played competitively since January when frustrations with his game got the better of him and he snapped his cue at the Championship League in Leicester.
He immediately pulled out of the Masters and has withdrawn from a string of big events since then, with doubts lingering over whether he would be in Sheffield this year.
It was confirmed on Thursday that O’Sullivan’s sabbatical was over and he will be at the Crucible with his new cue and take on old rival Ali Carter in the first round.
One man responsible for the Rocket’s return is Dr Steve Peters, the psychiatrist who has long been in his corner, so that is of little surprise.
However, the other person who can take some credit for O’Sullivan being in South Yorkshire is much less predictable.
‘I wasn’t sure what I was going to do,’ O’Sullivan said on Friday. ‘I played Barry Hawkins for a couple of days and on the second day, it was that bad that I quit halfway through the session.
‘Barry came down and had a talk to me and said it’s not as bad as you maybe think. I was like, “Really?” He said, “It’s just maybe concentration or whatever.”
‘So I held on to that and spoke to Steve Peters and he said, “Look, don’t think about two years, just try and focus on this tournament and I’ll be there for you.”
‘So I thought OK, I’ve had it from a very good professional who I respect and has good judgement and one from somebody else who knows the psychology, so I held on to those two people and just thought just try and play.
‘Barry kind of convinced me that maybe I was being a bit harsh on myself. So I was like OK. But he gave me a good hiding over the two days, which I expected and probably needed. For me, just getting here was a victory in itself. Getting out there to play will be a victory in itself.’
The reason for O’Sullivan’s absence is fascinating as it had little to do with a change of cue, but seemingly a crisis of confidence in the sport’s greatest ever player.
Ahead of the World Championship the seven-time champion was in Riyadh for an exhibition and even that felt like a test of his nerve.
‘I’m used to dealing with pressurised situations and stuff like that. This feels a lot different,’ he said. ‘It feels like I’ve lost my nerve. Maybe lost my bottle.
‘That’s difficult to go out and play. Even when I went to Saudi to do the exhibition, I felt quite nervous just exposing myself to the scrutiny and judgement. That felt hard enough, let alone coming here to try and play, there is no bigger test. I am surprised I am here but I am here. We will just have to see.
‘I was a bit scared to go near the table, I didn’t want to practice, I didn’t want to hit the ball. So many practice sessions lasted like five minutes. Normally I do three or four hours a day, first 20 mins are a bit urgh then after that I think I am loving this.
‘I tried playing left handed for a couple of months. I enjoyed it but I can’t compete left handed against these guys. I tried a different bridge hand, but I didn’t have any touch or feel. I ran out of ideas in the end. I felt a bit beaten by it. I don’t know what the future holds.
‘I feel like a bit of an old man clinging on. When you are a young man clinging on, it feels all right. But when you feel like an old man clinging on, it’s kind of different in a way. I am going to try and push on through and put everything into it and try and manage whatever the sport throws at me.’
So why does he want to push on through? Why try and conquer these demons when he has already achieved more than any other player in the game?
‘I said I wanted to at least do two proper years,’ he said. ‘Put everything that I was doing on the back burner. I don’t feel like I have that luxury anymore to do other things and try and compete.
‘I owe it to my career to focus on just playing in the next two years at least and just see if I can rediscover some decent form and try and finish my career on a good note and not how it’s felt for the last four years. That’s my main goal.
‘This is the last tournament of the season and I was getting a bit bored not doing much, so I got my cue out about a month ago and been doing a bit of practice.
‘If it doesn’t go great here, at least I’ve got another three months to go back to the practice table and really try and start the next season and build some momentum and rebuild or find some sort of game to at least give myself some sort of enjoyment.’
O’Sullivan gets his Crucible campaign underway against Carter on Tuesday afternoon.
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