SHEFFIELD: Five-time world champion Ronnie ‘Rocket’ O’Sullivan said on Saturday he sees himself as more pop singer James Blunt than The Rolling Stones.

The mercurial 41-year-old was speaking after he steamrollered 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy 13-7 in their grudge second-round match at the World Championships in Sheffield.

“I don’t see that I need to write a great album any more, I just need to be a supporting act. I don’t mind letting the other guys write the good albums,” said O’Sullivan.

“I’m happy to just be invited along and have them bring me out for half an hour — ‘Here he is, he’s still alive, he can still perform’ — but then I’m happy to fade back into the security of life.

“The Rolling Stones are still the big act, they don’t support anybody. Maybe I’m a bit like James Blunt. He seems a pretty cool dude,” added O’Sullivan of the 43-year-old former British Army officer who has sold over 20 million albums globally.

O’Sullivan, embroiled in controversy earlier this week when he complained of being bullied by snooker authorities, reeled off three of the first four frames against Murphy to ease into the last eight.

He will face the winner of the all-Chinese second-round match in which last year’s finalist Ding Junhui leads Liang Wenbo 9-7.

O’Sullivan, who has made his dislike of Murphy clear in the past, declared himself not that bothered about whether he will go on and win a sixth world crown.

“There might not be the intensity or the tournaments or the wins there were three or four years ago but I’m happier for it,” said O’Sullivan, whose accusations earlier this week were rejected by snooker supremo Barry Hearn.

“I don’t feel there’s that much pressure on me anymore,” he added. “I’m really not that bothered. I know it might sound crazy. At the end of it, if I was to win it I’d be sitting here saying it was a great, great feeling, but I’ve had that feeling five times before.

“It’s nice for a few days, a week or so, but after that you think: Is it worth putting 365 days of blood, sweat and tears into hopefully winning the world title to get that feeling?”

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2017