Ronnie O'Sullivan tells snooker player to consider quitting because he 'doesn't have good technique' or 'a snooker brain'

Ronnie O'Sullivan has brutally stated that another snooker player should consider quitting the World Snooker Tour due to his technique and his lack of 'a snooker brain'.

O'Sullivan is not playing at the current Welsh Open, having withdrawn last week as he is suffering from 'stage fright, brought on by anxiety'.

'The Rocket' is instead working as a pundit for Eurosport, a role he regularly fills after being knocked out of tournaments or not entering them entirely.

O'Sullivan was covering the first round match between Mark Williams and John Astley, which the former won 4-2.

Astley led 2-1 at one point, but 'The Welsh Potting Machine' won the fourth frame to level the scores once again.

In the following frame, Astley missed a red along the bottom corner when leading 47-44, and Williams subsequently won the frame before then securing the match later on.

And speaking on Eurosport, O'Sullivan gave a brutal verdict on Astley's technique in his analysis of the world number 78.

He said: "For me, if I've got a chance that I think I should win the game, if I'm out of position I'm taking it on. I just can't accept I'm not going to win that frame from that visit, it's hard to refuse balls sometimes.

"I'd try and screw that in, pinch it in a bit, so at least if you miss it, the red goes away.

"But to play it like that, he's not even on the black. Bad shot. He ain't got a snooker brain really, has he?

"You've got to have one of the two: a 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 or a 𝒔𝒏𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏!" 🧠

Ronnie O'Sullivan explores John Astley's strategy against Mark Williams 🗣️@ronnieo147 | @rachelcasey11 | #WelshOpen pic.twitter.com/ZBAQk5E9dc

— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 12, 2024

"You've just got to have a snooker brain. Some people are good at maths, some people are good at English, some have a snooker brain. Some people don't play the right shot, and they'll never play the right shot because their brain doesn't think like a snooker player.

"There's a lot of fantastic players over the years that I don't think have a snooker brain, but they have such good technique that they can get away with it.

"He has neither. He doesn't have a good technique, and he doesn't even have a snooker brain. So he's just gonna make 30s, 40s, miss balls, he isn't going to do anything really.

"It's unfortunate, but you have to have one of the two - you've got to have a good technique or a snooker brain. If you've got neither, maybe it's time to find something else to do."