‘Knock me off my perch’ – Ronnie O’Sullivan’s message to those who want him to quit at World Championship

Ronnie O’Sullivan has dismissed retirement talk as he threw down the gauntlet to his fellow professionals, saying someone would have to “knock me off my perch” before he considers quitting snooker. O’Sullivan arrived at the World Championship in Sheffield as the world No. 1 after another impressive season, but most of the talk has been about his future after a scathing attack from Hossein Vafaei last week.

Ad/> Vafaei accused the six-time world champion of being “disrespectful” to snooker and urged him to leave the sport. World Championship'Best of enemies' — O'Sullivan and Selby is best rivalry since Davis and Higgins3 HOURS AGO Prior to his first-round win over David Gilbert at the Crucible, O’Sullivan branded the attack “just words” and claimed he found it funny. However the story refuses to go away and O’Sullivan was again asked about Vafaei’s remarks when he dropped in on the Eurosport studio ahead of Monday’s evening session.

“I kind of thought about it [retiring] but do you retire when you’re No. 1 in the world?” said O’Sullivan. “Maybe it is a good time to retire, right at the top… But no, I’m still enjoying my snooker.

I still enjoy playing. “Someone’s going to have to come and knock me off my perch before I start thinking about retiring.” O'Sullivan referred to disciplinary committee after ‘lewd gesture’ at Crucible 'Best of enemies' — O'Sullivan and Selby is best rivalry since Davis and Higgins Moving World Champs to bigger venue 'would be amazing' – Robertson Vafaei became the first Iranian player to qualify for the World Championship, but opted to use the platform to slam O’Sullivan. “A lot of things he says frustrates me.