Ronnie O’Sullivan was in a positive mood despite Stuart Bingham crushing his hopes of an eighth World Snooker Championship crown on Wednesday evening. Bingham sealed a 13-10 triumph over The Rocket to book a semi-final clash against qualifier Jak Jones, who dumped out world No. 2 Judd Trump earlier in the day.
O’Sullivan was the strong favourite to progress to the final four before a shot was played on Tuesday, but he came unstuck against the 2015 champion at the Crucible.
At the start of the final session, the match was all-square at 8-8, but Bingham eventually edged clear of the seven-time winner by taking the final three frames.
He admitted that he shed a tear backstage after setting up a meeting with Welsh underdog Jones, who produced a shock of his own by defeating Trump 13-9 in Sheffield.
Meanwhile, O’Sullivan was in high spirits as he provided a positive assessment of his performance during his interview shortly after his season came to a close.
“That’s just the way it goes. I’m actually really happy. I feel like I’m actually getting through the ball, which is more important for me at this stage,” O’Sullivan told BBC Four after his defeat.
“I’ve had a bit of a worrying couple of years. For me, it’s not the win I’d have liked to have had. But it’s snooker; that’s the way it goes.
“Good luck to Stuart, he played a fantastic match and he deserved his victory. I’m just pleased that I competed and I felt like I was cueing okay. Just a few errors here and there but on the whole, not too bad.”
The World Snooker Championship draw sparked excitement by pitting O’Sullivan and Trump together in the bottom half.
However, Jones and Bingham’s surprise victories have caused a dramatic U-turn, and O’Sullivan played down the surprise over the outcome.
