'My head was gone' - Ronnie O'Sullivan opens up about famous walk-out during match against Stephen Hendry

Ronnie O'Sullivan has opened up about his famous walk-out during his match against Stephen Hendry as part of the Eurosport show Seventh Heaven. The Rocket, speaking to his good friend and former rival, Alan McManus, discussed in-depth the transformation he has gone through in the mental side of his snooker game and beyond. The conversation was part of the special two-hour show on discovery+ and Eurosport.

Ad O'Sullivan started working with Steve Peters at the age of 35 in 2011 following a very tough spell in his career and personal life. Since then, the pair have forged a very positive partnership — with the 46-year-old able to reflect on the work they have done together to turn his mentality around. World ChampionshipAstonishing emotion from O'Sullivan revealed for first time after seventh world titleA DAY AGO The seven-time world champion famously conceded the entire match against fellow legendary player Hendry at the 2006 UK Championship as he walked out of their encounter to leave his opponent and the audience stunned.

Looking back, O'Sullivan believes that it was «the devil inside me» and explained how Peters helped him to be less impulsive when he is having a bad day, an outlook that has helped him considerably in his snooker career. «Pre-Steve Peters, I think I walked out in a match against Stephen Hendry,» O'Sullivan recalled in the show. «My head was gone.

I wasn't playing well and I didn't want to be there. I shook hands and walked out. »A lot of it was in-the-moment stuff.

It was just reacting, 'I'm playing rubbish, don't want to be here, can't win this match'. So it was just kind of trying to ignore that voice, even though it is still there. «Even though I still thought I wanted to act on impulse, I kind of