Ronnie O’Sullivan has taken aim at Michael van Gerwen’s performance against Luke Littler (Image: Getty)
believes did not want to play in the final. MVG was routinely dismantled by The Nuke at Alexandra Palace, losing 7-3 as Littler became world champion for the first time.
O’Sullivan has compared his perception of Van Gerwen’s mentality to snooker star Mark Selby. The Rocket says Selby is the best primed to defeat the in-form Judd Trump, but insists the Jester from Leicester never relishes coming up against the world No. 1.
Trump is therefore O’Sullivan’s favourite to win the Masters this week. The Ace faces Ding Junhui in the quarter-final, while Selby will take on Mark Allen.
Speaking on Eurosport, O’Sullivan said: “I obviously think Trump has to be favourite for every tournament he plays, so a lot of us kind of take him out of it and think, who’s second? Who’s the one who might get past him?
“For me, that would have to be Selby at the moment, but I don’t think Selby relishes playing Judd. I think it was like when Van Gerwen played Luke Littler. He looked like he didn’t want to be there, he didn’t fancy the job.
“I think if Mark can get his head around playing Judd, and that’s all it is because they’re both amazing players, I think he’ll have a great chance, but he’s got to believe he can beat Judd and I’m not sure he quite believes it.
“But in the form he’s on now maybe he’ll change that approach.”
If Selby does meet Trump, he will hope to produce a better performance than Van Gerwen did against Littler. The Dutchman admitted that he had not made the most of the occasion.
Luke Littler dismantled Michael van Gerwen in the World Darts Championship final (Image: Getty)
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“I come 4-0 behind and after that I didn’t do myself justice but that’s the way it is,” Van Gerwen told Sky Sports.
“You need to try and fight and battle back but after coming back from 4-0 down I was definitely not the worst player out of us but fair play to him.
“Every moment he got to hurt me, he did. I sometimes say that every 17 years a star gets born and he is one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lovely tournament. I’ve been battling my own game but that’s how it was.
“In the beginning of the game I was letting myself down too much, especially against a player with his ability, and with his performance you are going to be in trouble.”