In the early morning of February 11, the 2022 Players Championship began the quarter-finals, and the old rivals O'Sullivan and Robertson met again, this battle Robertson won with 4 strokes 50+, O'Sullivan was eliminated 3-6, and the pace to the world number one was once again blocked. Even though O'Sullivan did not win the championship as he wished, he himself was very sympathetic to the results of the game and gave his opponent Robertson high praise.
After O'Sullivan lost, Snooker star Hendry gave his opinion, believing that there was a reason for O'Sullivan's loss, because the Rockets were players known for their speed, Hendry thought that O'Sullivan was very uncomfortable with the slow-paced play, saying that he had maintained a slow pace since the beginning of the game, O'Sullivan had difficulty finding a state, and the fast-paced play he was good at was useless.
In fact, judging from O'Sullivan's previous remarks, he himself is indeed very distressed about slow-paced players, especially players known as "Grinding King", as early as in the previous interview, when O'Sullivan learned that the opponent was a slow-based Li Xing, he felt helpless and frankly hoped to end the game as soon as possible, which is not disrespectful to the opponent, but O'Sullivan pays more attention to enjoying the game process, which is a personal tendency.
Although Hendry thinks so, O'Sullivan does not mention the relevant topic, but instead agrees with his opponent Robertson, believing that he has lost to a better opponent.
In an interview, O'Sullivan stressed that he wants to admit that Robertson is the best player today, it is not easy to beat him, O'Sullivan is not upset by a failure, but recognizes his performance, frankly tried to grasp the initiative during the game, but failed to shake Robertson, making it difficult for O'Sullivan to find opportunities and can only break through in a scattered attack.
As an old rival, O'Sullivan and Robertson have met many times this season, last year's World Grand Prix two-person final match, and finally O'Sullivan was skilled, narrowly won the 38th crown of the individual ranking competition, this year's Masters Robertson completed his revenge and became the champion of the New Branch Masters, and now the Players Tournament meets again, O'Sullivan's promotion journey once again ends in Robertson's hands, which can be described as a strong confrontation, and the victory or defeat is difficult to determine.
Regardless of winning or losing, O'Sullivan always recognized Robertson's strength, he once regarded it as a terrible opponent, marveled at his accurate ball control ability that was not bound by age, and also put Robertson and Trump and Selby on the same level, regarded the three as "big three", and even surprised by the fact that Robertson's number of world champions was very small, and in his heart he thought that Robertson was very strong, which showed his appreciation for Robertson.
As a snooker predecessor, O'Sullivan has a good attitude, he can quickly get out of the influence of the game, will not be tied to the championship competition, and gradually regard snooker as a hobby, which is why he has long been prosperous and loved by fans.