Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘vulnerable’ against Luca Brecel but ‘no stone will remain unturned’ to find form – White and McManus

Ronnie O’Sullivan was “vulnerable” against Luca Brecel, according to Jimmy White, and Alan McManus feels the defending champion will leave no stone unturned in a bid to find his best form.

White and McManus feel Brecel missed a major opportunity to put O’Sullivan to the sword.

“Ronnie has been very vulnerable tonight, he has missed so many balls,” White said in the Eurosport studio. “He was laughing when he missed a red by so far.

“He’s just not firing on all cylinders and Luca Brecel kept getting in and getting the opportunities and just gifting Ronnie frames.

“If you look at the scoreboard, he won’t be happy with his day’s work. He did not play well at all.

“He played nowhere near like he did against Hossein [Vafaei]. He has not carried on, but is still 10-6 up. For me, the match is done.

“He’ll be looking back on how bad he’s played, but the competitor that he is, he’ll see he’s 10-6 up and think ‘I haven’t even played here’.

“He will give it maximum again tomorrow to get over the line and reset for the semi-finals.

“He has had a chance, Luca, there to be in the match, but he’s not now for me. He is too far behind. It will be Ronnie nursing this lead over the line and going again.”

McManus felt O’Sullivan was able to preserve his lead because he played smart snooker, knowing his form was not there.

“He is four frames ahead because he was committed to his own cause,” McManus said. “He is not playing well, is in second gear, but is at 92% pot success. What does that tell you? It tells me that every time he lands on something that is a bit dicey, which has been a lot as he is not putting together big numbers, he tucks the cue ball under the baulk cushion. That is what you have got to do.”

The match concludes on Wednesday afternoon, and McManus feels O’Sullivan will be at the Crucible early to iron out some issues.

He said: “We can’t get into Ronnie’s mind but if I was hazarding a guess, Ronnie will be in early here tomorrow on the practice table working out a couple of things that he will feel from that session that went wrong.

“He will take maybe an hour and a half. He did it in the final [in 2020] against Kyren Wilson and it paid off. No stone will remain unturned, I can guarantee it with Ronnie.

“There might be a lack of form, but you retain your focus. You don’t give in, you dig in.”

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