Ronnie O’Sullivan has ruled out winning the World Championship this year after he was dumped out of the Masters at the semi-final stage yesterday.

World number one Neil Robertson notched a century in the opening frame and barely let up as he raced to a 6-1 victory over the Chigwell star at London’s Alexandra Palace.

After his perfect start, the Australian nicked frame two with a 66 clearance and went 3-0 up before The Rocket hit back with a century of his own.

But that proved to be a false dawn as Robertson reeled off three frames after the mid-session interval to send O’Sullivan crashing out.

And 39-year-old O’Sullivan says he wasn’t surprised by the result as he has been struggling to produce his best snooker for a long time.

“I’m not the player I was 18 months ago,” explained O’Sullivan. “I think I can get it back but if not, maybe that was just a purple patch.

“But I’ll keep battling on and try to recapture that form. I’ll play more matches and more tournaments.

“It takes a good nine months for it to take effect though – you can’t get fit for a marathon in one week, two weeks or one month.

“You have to put the foundation work in, you have to start somewhere and for me it will be starting at Crondon Park next month.

“I’ll have a good idea by this time next year whether it’s paying off. I’m not looking at this year’s World Championship because there are no quick fixes.

“When you’re talking about top-level sport it doesn’t just happen overnight – you have to put the graft in.”

O’Sullivan had won the Masters on five previous occasions but must now regroup ahead of a busy second half of the season.

And while he was underwhelmed by his own performance, the world number three was quick to credit Robertson for making the most of his chances.

“Neil has played a great match – he has been a top, top player for a long time and he had me in a lot of trouble,” admitted O’Sullivan.

“I knew that it was coming eventually because I have been scraping away. No-one has really played well enough to expose my weaknesses but Neil did.

“He just took me apart like someone of his calibre and ability would when they’re comfortable with their game.”

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