Ken Doherty believes that Ronnie O'Sullivan's first round knockout by amateur James Cahill is "not only one of the biggest shocks in snooker, but in sport" and has given a withering assessment of O'Sullivan's performance.
Doherty discussed O'Sullivan's exit at the Crucible, in unheralded circumstances, as Blackpool's Cahill defeated favourite O'Sullivan 10-8 this afternoon. While O'Sullivan explained that fatigue had contributed to his demise, Doherty identified other mental characteristics that help explain the situation.
"It wasn't a foregone conclusion, like everyone thought it was going to be," Doherty said.
"With Ronnie O'Sullivan, you just never know. In the first session, he was terrible. He was treating the match like an exhibition.
"I don't know how ill he was - he said he had a bit of a virus and he looked like he hadn't got a lot of sleep. He played very loosely - very casual. James Cahill did not balk at the opportunity, and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands and he played superbly well."
By the sounds of Doherty's reading of the game, he believes that this defeat was as much of Ronnie O'Sullivan's making as it was Cahill's.
"Even if you're not well - we have all played when we've not been well - it's the attitude when you're playing the game itself, and the application of playing the right shots and not treating it like an exhibition match.
"Sometimes with Ronnie, he just does not look up for the fight. He just didn't look up for the fight, and maybe that is because of his health and that is his prerogative."
What this says about Ronnie O'Sullivan's ability to rouse himself from a relative malaise remains to be seen, but Ken believes that it is one goal in particular that is motivating him - beating Stephen Hendry's seven World Snooker Championship titles.
"I would say that is his only motivation now. I would say that that is now all he wants to achieve before he retires."
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