Snooker pro Ronnie O’Sullivan made people “feel rubbish” when they didn’t make it to the World Championship…

Snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan made ‘feel rubbish’ fails to qualify for World Championship

The World Snooker Championship is set to be without one of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s rivals.

Ronnie O’Sullivan will not get the chance to get another one over a snooker rival. (Image: Getty)

Snooker star Michael Holt will not be playing at the World Championship in 2024 after suffering a defeat to Xing Zihao in the first round of qualifying. The 2020 Shoot Out winner had previously been made to “feel rubbish” by Ronnie O’Sullivan but won’t get the chance to knock out the Rocket in Sheffield.

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Qualifiers take place over nine days at the English Institute of Sport and although Holt was able to secure four 50 half-century breaks, it was not enough to get another chance at Crucible glory.

Holt, who dropped off the circuit in 2022 but earned a return in January for the next two years via the Q Tour, will not have the opportunity to redeem himself against O’Sullivan. He has defeated the seven-time world champion on four out of their ten competitive meetings, but admitted to being terrified of the Rocket.

Michael Holt does not relish playing against Ronnie O’Sullivan. (Image: Getty)

“He is one of the only players I have played and sat there and he has made me feel rubbish,” Holt told the BBC in 2013 after O’Sullivan had stepped away from snooker. “He is so good – an absolute genius. He is a great, great player – unbelievable. Ronnie’s return is great for the tournament. But you won’t say that if he starts playing well and beating you.

“The tournament is not devalued if he is not there because it is the World Championship, but him being there adds that extra spice. It’s great that he is back.”

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And O’Sullivan would unlikely have been confident of pushing Holt aside if they did meet at the World Championship. Despite reaching the Tour Championship final, which he lost 10-5 to Mark Williams, the Rocket has been very critical of his form this season.

“This year I’ve got the wins but technically I’ve been terrible,” O’Sullivan said in Manchester after Stephen Hendry claimed that he had become a percentage player. “Probably my worst year technically. I’ve had to grind out the wins and that’s never going to give me much satisfaction.”

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