LONDON
\nRonnie O\u2019Sullivan will launch his bid for an eighth World Championship triumph with a new approach after claiming he doesn\u2019t \u201cknow much\u201d about snooker.
\nO\u2019Sullivan has dominated snooker for over two decades with a record 41 ranking titles and 1,260 century breaks.
\nThe 48-year-old, who was first crowned world champion in 2001, has showed no signs of slowing down in the latter stages of his career, winning two of the last four world titles.
\nBut O\u2019Sullivan has linked up with a former coach with the aim of improving his game-play because he believes he still hasn\u2019t mastered the sport.
\nO\u2019Sullivan will put his new approach to the test against qualifier Jackson Page on Wednesday in the first round of the World Championship, which gets under way at Sheffield\u2019s Crucible Theatre on Saturday.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve been trying to think how I want the next five to 10 years to be. I\u2019ve been working with a coach and we\u2019ve done a lot of testing in some ways and I\u2019ve realised I don\u2019t know much about snooker,\u201d O\u2019Sullivan told reporters on Friday.
\n\u201cI thought I did. I know how to get a ball in a hole, and I know how to compete and win it, and I\u2019ve got an idea of what needs to happen. I know I have to get this bit of wood and this ball and if I do this, that should happen.
\n\u201cBut I haven\u2019t been that efficient in the last few years and I\u2019ve just tried to accept that I needed a bit of help, so I\u2019ve gone back to a coach that worked with my old coach, and I\u2019m going back through the stuff that worked for me.\u201d
\nO\u2019Sullivan\u2019s coach Nic Barrow is a veteran figure on the world snooker circuit and runs a training programme called \u2018The Snooker Gym\u2019 which vows to \u201chelp frustrated amateurs with any problem in diagnosis\u201d.
\nWhile O\u2019Sullivan is far from a frustrated amateur, the colourful and controversial star is unhappy with his form despite heading to Sheffield as the world number one after winning five ranking events this year.
\nAfter frequent hints at retirement over the years, O\u2019Sullivan claims he could play on for another decade and needs to make changes to ensure his longevity.
\n\u201cI like to win and I\u2019ve got another five to 10 years, and I\u2019ve got to enjoy the work that I\u2019m doing,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cI know I\u2019ve won tournaments but winning and playing to a certain standard don\u2019t always match up. I\u2019ve played a lot better and not won anything all season.
\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t really make sense but I haven\u2019t really enjoyed it, I\u2019ve just been struggling to get through the ball smoothly.
\n\u201cBeing happy with the game is what it\u2019s all about, or if that\u2019s not the case, I\u2019ve got to get around not playing well and accept it, but I\u2019m not good at accepting it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan will launch his bid for an eighth World Championship triumph with a new approach after claiming he doesn\u2019t \u201cknow much\u201d about snooker. O\u2019Sullivan has dominated snooker for over two decades with a record 41 ranking titles and 1,260 century breaks. The 48-year-old, who was first crowned world champion in 2001, has showed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401607,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-401581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n