Ronnie O'Sullivan: 'The trick is to lose'

Ronnie O'Sullivan says that "nothing really matters" anymore when it comes to his snooker career.

The seven-time world champion is in Belfast this week taking part in the Northern Ireland Open.

He started his tournament last night without breaking a sweat in front of a packed house at the Waterfront Hall by the banks of the Lagan, as he beat Germany's Lukas Kleckers 4-0.

The Rocket has made three finals in the only WST tournament on the island since 2018, but on each occasion he was beaten by Judd Trump.

You have to go back to 2008 for his last title in this city, but O'Sullivan seems to be comfortable whether he loses next time out, or goes on to win the final on Sunday.

"I don't have a schedule, I just enter everything," he tells RTÉ Sport.

"The trick is to lose... if you don't want to be somewhere, then you're better off getting beat, getting home and having a few days off, and waiting to see how you feel the next week.

"Before I used to pick and choose, and I was playing better then, and I was able to do that and get away with it. Now I just enter everything, and then at some point I'll feel good and might win it.

"If I don't feel good, at least play a couple of matches, get out of the house for a few days, and then get back home.

"Nothing really matters - wins, losses - eventually something will happen. That's the law of averages."

We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

O'Sullivan adds that he's looking forward to spending some time in Belfast, where he plans to run, and continue to do work with Eurosport even