Ronnie O'Sullivan will hope history does not repeat itself as he reignites his rivalry with Joe Perry in the World Seniors Championship final on Sunday. The Rocket, 50, defeated Robert Milkins in the semi-final in his debut at the tournament.
A Contentious History
A reunion with Perry, 51, comes over 17 years after the seven-time world champion suffered a meltdown against the Gentleman when conceding a frame in the last 16 of their UK Championship clash. O'Sullivan's inconsistency reared its head in the match despite beginning their session with a 5-3 overnight lead. At 23-0 down with nine reds left, the snooker icon flicked the white ball with his hand to surrender the 12th frame.
The frustrated O'Sullivan returned to the table after a brief intermission but eventually lost 9-5 and was subsequently fined £300 by World Snooker. He was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs due to breaking the rules.
Speaking after his defeat, the Englishman said: "I just got outplayed. I felt very cold and couldn't seem to make anything happen but you've got to give Joe credit, he played well. That's the story of my game for a while now. I'm good at times, not good at others. I'm inconsistent and it's something I've got to live with."
Speaking on his concession at the time, O'Sullivan was as carefree as can be about his impending punishment, as he said: "It will be just a little £250 fine and a letter through the post. I've had a few of those in the past. It's no big deal."
Road to the Final
A repeat of his past behaviour will be the furthest thing on his mind as he aims for yet another triumph at the Crucible against Perry. The pair have enjoyed plenty of other battles aside from the UK Championship controversy, with O'Sullivan beating Perry in the 2007 Masters final.
Not one to shy away from voicing his opinion, O'Sullivan highlighted the difficult conditions at the Crucible following his victory over Milkins. Organisers were forced to move one match to a practice table after one of the two tables were deemed to be unplayable following a floor slate dropping.
O'Sullivan said: "The conditions are really tough. None of the players would make excuses, and we're not making excuses. I thought me and Milkins were cueing well. But sometimes, you can fall out of position, chasing the ball. It's hard to keep potting, especially under pressure. So I thought we did well under the conditions. I'm messing around with different types of cue actions, so it's a good experience for me. I'm enjoying that kind of process."
O'Sullivan's participation in the final comes just two weeks after he was dumped out of the World Snooker Championship by John Higgins in the second round.
