Rocket turns to psych

'The Rocket' has famously suffered from mental problems throughout his career, and after sliding to 10th in the world rankings following first-round exits in his last four tournaments, he claimed he would pull out of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield starting this weekend.

But he has not followed through with that threat, instead having been convinced by World Snooker to reconsider and asked by a friend to see the man credited with helping Great Britain to eight cycling gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

"I am about to go and see the man who worked with the GB Olympic cycling team later this week," O’Sullivan was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "He has a very good reputation. I'll be honest with him, I'm not sure what he can do to help me - but there is that small chance that he can. 

"My problem is not that I can't get over the winning line, or that I don't believe I am good enough. I can win and I know if I'm playing well I beat all bar a couple. 

"But a friend said to me in China you should see this bloke. I will try anything that might work. 

"It just sounds too good to be true if after all these years someone makes it all come back, and I start enjoying it again and finding all my shots."

The former world number one, widely regarded as being one of the greatest natural players in history, is due to face Wales' Dominic Dale over the best of 19 frames on Monday.

O’Sullivan has already missed 12 events this season, citing medical and personal reasons, and admitted that pulling out of the Crucible event would have signalled the decline of his career.

"Last week I put in a verbal withdrawal to World Snooker and told them I wasn't going to play in Sheffield," he said.

"That's when it really hit me that this could be it, for five or 10 minutes my heart was pounding. 

"I said 'if it's easier to say I'm retiring, then say that'. They said 'that's fine, but we'll give you the weekend to think about it'. On Monday they called back, and talked me back into it."