Ronnie O’Sullivan says there is just one thing left he’d love to do in snooker

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Ronnie O’Sullivan says there is one thing left in snooker that he would love to achieve and that is win one more World Championship title, taking his tally to eight.

The Rocket often says he is not fussed about records and statistics, but does admit that going clear on the most world title wins would mean a lot to him.

The 48-year-old is currently tied on seven World Championship wins with Stephen Hendry and he feels that going clear of the great Scot would be the final box ticked in his epic career.

‘I don’t have to win any tournaments anymore, I’ve had a great career, an amazing career,’ O’Sullivan said after a win over Yuan Sijun in the last 32 of the Xi’an Grand Prix.

‘I suppose if there is one thing I would love to do is to win another World Championship, that would be eight and I’d have every record there is in snooker to have.

‘I’m equal with Stephen Hendry which is still a great achievement, it would be nice to have them all. Then that would be a dream story I suppose, for me, to look back at my career and say, I’ve done okay.’

The Rocket has breezed into the last 16 in Xi’an, with comfortable wins over Wang Yuchen, Bulcsu Revesz and Yuan, but he will likely have a sterner test on Thursday against Hossein Vafaei.

He has not been thrilled with how he has been playing recently, but felt that he found something against Yuan and hopes to enjoy his performances more going forward, helped by playing more left-handed.

‘I don’t lack self belief, I know what I’m capable of, that’s why I’m so hard on myself,’ he said. ‘I expect really, really high standards. I don’t expect to win but I’ve won a lot so that suggests I’m capable of winning a lot.

‘You always want to find some consistency. If I can play like that 50-60 per cent of the time then I’ll win a lot of tournaments and be very happy with a smile on my face.

‘Whereas the last two years I’ve won a lot of tournaments but I’ve not really enjoyed it. For me the key is to enjoy the game, especially at this stage of my career, and I’m looking for ways to make that happen.

‘I’ve started to play more left handed because I really enjoy it and hopefully within that process I’ll be able to find some form with the right hand. If it comes, great, if it doesn’t, then you just have to keep plugging away, keep persevering and find whatever it is out there.’

O’Sullivan and Vafaei meet at 12.30pm UK time on Thursday, live on Matchroom.live.

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