Ronnie O’Sullivan claimed he is currently a “very poor snooker player” after suffering another early exit at the China Open on Wednesday.
The 51-year-old was beaten 6-4 by Noppon Saengkham in the second round in Taiyuan, with the seven-time world champion once again left to rue a performance littered with uncharacteristic mistakes.
O’Sullivan has now gone more than two years without winning a ranking title, with his most recent success coming at the World Grand Prix in early 2024.
He suffered several early exits from competitions last season, although he did reach the final of the World Open in March where he was denied glory by Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
O’Sullivan has slipped to 14th in the world rankings, and the Rocket offered another dreary assessment of his current level after his latest defeat.
“I’m just very poor,” O’Sullivan said, as reported by the World Snooker Tour. “Too many bad shots, bad frames, and silly mistakes.”
“I have been like this for four years so I’m used to it, but it’s frustrating. I don’t want to take anything away from Noppon.
“He played a really good match, he is cueing strong. I’m just a very poor snooker player at the moment, it’s as simple as that.”
The defeat means O’Sullivan’s wait for another deep run in a ranking event continues, while Saengkham can now look forward to a place in the China Open quarter-finals.
The Thai, ranked 45th in the world, had already produced one of the biggest shocks of the tournament by defeating world number one Judd Trump in the opening round.
He followed that up by dispatching O’Sullivan as he continues his bid to win the first ranking title of his career.
Saengkham’s previous best performance in a ranking event came at the 2023 Scottish Open, where he reached the final before losing to Gary Wilson.
He will now face Shaun Murphy in the last eight after the Magician defeated Xiao Guodong 6-2.
The other completed last-16 matches on Wednesday also produced some notable results.
David Gilbert continued his impressive start to the 2026/27 campaign with a 6-2 victory over reigning world champion Wu Yize.
The Englishman, who also thrashed home favourite Ding Junhui 6-1 earlier in the tournament, compiled breaks of 132, 122, 80, 56 and 54 to cruise into the quarter-finals.
Gilbert will face Zhou Yuelong in the last eight after the Chinese player defeated compatriot Liu Hongyu 6-4 with the aid of an impressive haul of four century breaks.
Meanwhile, the remaining four fixtures from the second round will be played on Thursday.
Neil Robertson takes on Si Jiahui, with the Australian now knowing that his hopes of reclaiming the world number one position have received a major boost.
With Trump, Wu and Zhao Xintong all already out of the tournament, Robertson can guarantee his return to the top of the rankings later this month if he wins the China Open.
The other matches see three-time China Open champion Mark Selby face Kyren Wilson, Stuart Bingham meet Hossein Vafaei, and Chris Wakelin encounter Zhang Anda.
For O’Sullivan, his attention will turn to the Wuhan Open later this month.
The Rocket is scheduled to face Ashley Carty in the opening round, giving the Englishman another opportunity to try to halt his worrying spell of form.
Featured photo credit: WST
