Snooker pundit Jimmy White has told Ronnie O'Sullivan what he needs to do ahead of this year's Snooker World Championship.
The Rocket will aim for a record-breaking eighth world title at the Crucible in four months time. The World No.1 suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Martin Gould at last month's English Open. During the Christmas break O'Sullivan jetted off for a mystery Christmas break to Dubai and White hoped that the Rocket had been 'practicing hard' ahead of next week's triple crown event.
Talking about the upcoming Masters with Eurosport former world champion White said a major tournament victory would be perfect for O'Sullivan ahead of April's world championships.
White said: "Every match is like a final (at the Masters). You have got the best players in the world playing. It's the Triple Crown with big prize money and big crowds. I am looking forward to seeing Ronnie O'Sullivan.
"Hopefully, he gets himself in tip-top condition, practises hard over Christmas and gets ready for it because, for me, he needs to win a big tournament, like the Masters, going into the World Championship."
Will Ronnie O'Sullivan win an eighth world championship this year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section
O'Sullivan has won the Hong Kong Masters and Champion of Champions events while playing some impressive snooker early in the season. However, the seven-time world champion struggled at the Scottish Open stating he was 'full of mistakes ' during his third round exit before his early exit at the English Open.
That followed a quarter-final exit at the UK Championship when the Rocket was beaten by a whitewash 6-0 against Ding Junhui.
However, White expects the seven-time world champion to come fighting back early in 2023 and tipped him to win the Masters. He added: "When Ronnie lost in the UK [Championship] to Ding 6-0 I think he had had enough snooker after winning tournaments.
"He will get his nut down and practise really hard. I expect him to be in tip-top condition for this Masters so I am going to go with O'Sullivan."
Former professional Neal Foulds also backed O'Sullivan to life the Masters crown. He added: "I have to be predictable and say I think Ronnie. We have seen him not fully geared up, but the Masters is on his hit list so I am going to play it safe and say Ronnie can win it for the eighth time."
O'Sullivan will begin his Masters campaign with a first round match against Luca Brecel on Monday.
