Ronnie O'Sullivan admits being written off spurred him on to beat Kyren Wilson at Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters - 'Made me try a bit harder'
Updated 14/08/2025 at 22:56 GMT+1
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Ronnie O'Sullivan produced another comeback to claim a terrific victory over Kyren Wilson and reach the semi-finals of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. O'Sullivan said it was being written off before the match that spurred him on to victory. The seven-time world champion will face Chris Wakelin in the last four of the big-money event on Friday evening.
O’Sullivan reveals comment online spurred him to victory over Wilson
Video credit: TNT Sports
Ronnie O'Sullivan admitted a comment he saw writing off his chances of beating Kyren Wilson spurred him on to claim a terrific victory at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
O'Sullivan came from 5-3 down to beat Wilson 6-5 to reach the semi-finals, proving he still has plenty to give just a few months before he turns 50.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, O'Sullivan said: "It helped that I looked at a comment and someone said, 'he's going to get trounced by Wilson' so I was like 'okay', so that kind of made me try a little bit harder.
"Obviously everyone was writing me off, didn't expect me to win. I kind of like being in that position, it spurs me on a bit to try and give the opponent a game.
"I feel like I've achieved an amazing result. I'm 50 years of age soon and I'm playing Kyren who's 33, in his prime, best player in the world, so for me, it's an amazing result. I've got to be over the moon with that."
It was a fabulous encounter on Thursday night between O'Sullivan, seven-time champion of the world, and Wilson, Crucible champion last year.
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‘Oh yes!’ – O’Sullivan all but seals win over Wilson with stunning long pot
Video credit: TNT Sports
The first six frames were shared, but it looked like Wilson had made a potentially decisive move when he knocked in breaks of 69 and 80 to go 5-3 ahead.
But O'Sullivan, who came from 5-2 behind to beat Chang Bingyu 6-5 in the previous round, fired in quick-fire breaks of 110 and 118 to force a decider.
O'Sullivan held his nerve to win it and set up a semi-final meeting with Chris Wakelin, who beat Barry Hawkins 6-5, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
"I'm enjoying playing at the moment," O'Sullivan added. "I didn't expect to win. My goal was to give him half a decent game and make him work for it, and I'd have been happy.
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"For me, he is the best player in the world, I tell that to everybody and they go, 'yeah but he's this and he's that,' and I'm like, 'he doesn't look he's doing anything brilliant, but he does everything so well'.
"He's just like John Higgins really, they're so good in every department, so efficient and it's hard, you know, because I'm a bit in and out.
"It think it's harder to concentrate maybe when you get older. I just tried my hardest."
The other semi-final on Friday will be between Neil Robertson, who beat Ali Carter 6-4, and Elliot Slessor, who edged out Mark Williams 6-5.
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Watch and stream top snooker action including the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters live and on demand on TNT Sports and discovery+
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