Ronnie O'Sullivan roars back to form to stun Mark Selby 5-3 to reach semi-finals of the Wuhan Open

The start of the new season has so far been a painful one for O'Sullivan who has made no secret of his struggle for form, with his last ranking title win coming back in 2024.

A couple of early exits to the start the new campaign have left O'Sullivan once again bemoaning his game this week, and prior to his last-eight clash with Selby, he said he held out little hope of claiming victory.

He said: "It has been pretty bad for a long time, so I expect to play pretty bad every time I go out there.

"I miss playing well and dominating the table, beating anyone who is in front of me. I miss that feeling, but there is nothing I can do about it.

"Listen, if anyone plays well against me, they win, doesn't matter where they're ranked. If they play poorly, then I have a chance, but I don't expect from now on anyone to play poorly.

"My game is just very, very poor."

However, O'Sullivan turned back the clock to down the in-form Selby, himself hot from winning the China Open, the Rocket closing out the match with a trademark century.

It wasn't all vintage O'Sullivan, with Selby bossing the early proceedings to lead 2-0, but breaks of 87, 96, 72, 80 and 129 turned the tide in impression fashion and confirmed there is plenty of life left in the seven-time world champion.

O'Sullivan, who will face Chang Bingyu in the semi-finals, told World Snooker Tour afterwards: "We've had some unbelievable battles. I look at Mark and I know where he is at, as I was there seven or eight years ago.

"He has a lot of good years left in the game. I think he is going to be around for a long time. He is a legend of the game and an all-time great.

"You have Zhao Xintong and Wu Yize, but this kid [Chang] up with them. Without a doubt."