"I'm awful, it's embarrassing' - Ronnie O'Sullivan laments English Open exit

Ronnie O'Sullivan believes that the countdown to his retirement from the game is getting closer following his early exit at the English Open.

China's He Guoqiang claimed a major scalp when he knocked the seven-times world champion out of the tournament on Tuesday.

O'Sullivan found himself trailing 3-0 after his opponent edged a tight first frame and then took the next two with breaks of 78 and 77 respectively.

Breaks of 56 and 59 took O’Sullivan back to within one frame, however, He wrapped up the victory with a break of 50 to progress 4-2.

Speaking after the defeat, O’Sullivan said that it was pointless trying to compete playing at a substandard level of snooker, adding that it would be a waste of time turning up to the World Championships in that kind of form.

"I’m awful, it’s embarrassing," said O’Sullivan. "I miss so many balls. I can’t get away from it, poor, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

"I’ve been missing balls for the last four or five years and every now and then I’ll miss a few less, maybe, and get a couple of results.

"I’m absolutely useless. Forget about the Worlds. I’m not even bothered to be honest with you, if I’m going to play rubbish I might as well play left-handed. Play left-handed and enjoy it, but be useless, or play right-handed, be useless and not enjoy it.

"I haven’t got long, I’m not going to deny it, I’m not playing well enough, there’s no point in even worrying about it. I’ve just accepted it now which is quite a nice place to be really."