Ronnie O’Sullivan went after Michael van Gerwen on live TV with a brutal analogy about his defeat to Luke Littler at Alexandra Palace.
Van Gerwen suffered a disappointing 7-3 loss in the final of the PDC World Darys Championship earlier this month, as the young Littler captured the title at just 17 years old.
The talented teenager showed remarkable skill, sweeping aside his opponent with breathtaking ease.
At the end of the game, Van Gerwen exited the stage quickly, a visible reflection of his frustration.
Now, O’Sullivan, the snooker icon, has weighed in on the showdown.
He drew comparisons between the thrilling darts final and the ongoing Masters tournament and pulled no punches on Van Gerwen.
After confidently declaring that Judd Trump is the strong favourite to capture the title this week, O’Sullivan said in a pointed remark about the Dutchman: “I obviously think Trump is the favourite for every tournament he enters.
“So many of us tend to look beyond him and ponder, who might take second place?
“Who’s the one who might get past him? For me, that would have to be Mark 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, 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.”
O’Sullivan had been set to compete for the trophy but made the difficult decision to withdraw at the last minute.
However, after a frustrating pre-Masters event where he snapped his cue, the 49-year-old chose to step back from the competition.
During a tense 3-2 Championship League defeat to Robert Milkins at a behind-closed-doors event in Leicester, O’Sullivan’s emotions erupted.
The world No.3 sparked concern over his well-being as he broke his cue and tossed it into a bin, later opting out of his final group game.
But O’Sullivan reassured fans that he will come back stronger after recovering from a wave of exhaustion.
“I’m alright, not too bad,” he said during an interview with Eurosport on Monday evening.
“It was a nightmare decision really to make, if you’d have asked me Sunday if I was ready to play I’d probably have been okay to play. But it’s such a massive tournament.
“I’d been on a three-week trip away playing and I just think I exhausted myself, a lot of pressure while I was away. The build-up of all that just got a bit too much really.”
There is no Michael van Gerwen in Bahrain over the next weekend. Next time he will play will be the Dutch Darts Masters on home soil in Den Bosch.