As he advanced to the Tour Championship final, world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan admitted that he had experienced moments of being afraid to play snooker. In his 10-7 victory over Gary Wilson on Friday in Manchester, the seven-time world champion hit three century breaks. He did, however, admit that he had been experiencing the “yips” and that he had attempted to “shift his perspective.” This season, the 48-year-old has won five competitions. “I’m just trying really hard to not get down on myself,” she added. O’Sullivan scored runs of 102 and 110 to overcome a 2-0 deficit and take a 4-2 lead, but Wilson, another Englishman, answered with runs of 83, 84, 82, and 96 to tie the score at 7-7. But he didn’t really get a peek in from there as”I know I’ll always be fiddling around, but I need to somehow strengthen my mental faculties so I can handle it and avoid delving too far into this terrible, dark world.” “I guess all athletes—golfers, tennis players, snooker players, etc.—do it, but I got so into it that it felt like I was detoxing from it. “In a way, it felt like I had the yips—mentally and physically; you feel like you can’t even want to go play. “Since it’s not a pleasant place to be, all I can do is attempt to mentally escape it in the hopes that my game will begin.
