Ronnie O’Sullivan extended his own record to eight Masters titles on Sunday (Picture: Getty Images)
Ronnie O’Sullivan says he intends to take two months off competitive snooker, feeling ‘played-out’ after winning his eighth Masters title on Sunday night.
The Rocket battled back from behind to beat Ali Carter 10-7 at Alexandra Palace, becoming the oldest player to win the tournament at 48-years-old.
He is now the oldest and youngest player to win the Masters, just as he is at the UK Championship following his brilliant victory in York last month.
The world number one has also claimed the Shanghai Masters this season, but says his success, along with a lot of travelling for exhibition tournaments, is catching up with him.
‘I’m a bit played-out, to be honest,’ O’Sullivan told Eurosport. ‘I had such a strong push September-December, I really went hard at every tournament.
‘I look at the first four months as the main part of my season, put everything into that and I did better than I thought I would do. Subconsciously I was quite content with that. It’s hard to keep motivating yourself. It really is.’
The World Snooker Tour calendar does not slow down between now and the end of the season in May, but O’Sullivan says he will need time off.
O’Sullivan battled back from 3-5 down to beat Carter (Picture: Getty Images)
The World Grand Prix starts on Monday in Leicester and the Rocket will play in that event, but then intends to take a break from tournaments.
‘I’m going to take two months off now,’ he said. ‘I’ll probably just play next week because it’s 32 players, I’ve earned my way to get in that tournament.
‘But I’ll just swerve all the other tournaments now. I feel like I want a break.
‘I’m looking forward to getting on the exhibition circuit, start playing more exhibitions, I enjoy them, they’re a bit of fun. Too much intense snooker for me is not good. I need to back off and consolidate and get some fun in the game so the exhibitions will be good.
‘I’ve got a busy March, May, June, July so I don’t want to be fatigued going into that. I’ve had a great season, even if I’d just won the Shanghai Masters I’ve had a great season. I took the UK and nicked this one as well so I’ve had an amazing season.’
If O’Sullivan does indeed take two months off after the World Grand Prix, he would miss the Wuhan Open, German Masters, Welsh Open and Players Championship.
Ali Carter played brilliantly until falling away at the end (Picture: Getty Images)
With both Triple Crown tournaments this season under his belt, the Rocket has the chance to win all three in the same season for the first time in his career.
He is certainly not ruling it out, but says he needs to build confidence to really fancy his chances at the Crucible.
‘I always have a good idea around February, March whether my game’s in good enough shape to win the Worlds,’ he said. ‘At the moment I’d probably say it’s not good enough to feel confident of winning it.
‘I could still win it. But I’d like to go there with a bit of confidence. Longer sessions you have to learn to cruise and win most of your games in second gear, but at the moment I’m having to squeeze everything out just to get a result. Which is hard, but I’m a competitor so I’ll keep fighting.’
MORE : Ali Carter fancies Ronnie O’Sullivan challenge as he reveals Masters mantra
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‘Too much intense snooker for me is not good.’