Ronnie O’Sullivan has threatened to pull out of snooker events (Image: Getty)
has threatened to cause chaos for tournament organisers by pulling out of events the day before they begin. The Rocket withdrew from last week’s British Open and appears to be set to take more time off.
O’Sullivan is scheduled to play at the Wuhan Open and the Northern Ireland Open over the coming weeks. However, his latest comments suggest that tournament chiefs could be scrambling to find replacements in the hours before he is due to play his first matches.
The 48-year-old pulled out of the Northern Ireland Open and the Champion of Champions event in Bolton last year, citing stress feeling ‘drained’ at the tail-end of the season. This year, he to much other than the International Championship in Nanjing next month.
Speaking to Virgin Radio about which tournaments he plans to play before Christmas, O’Sullivan said: “I will enter them and if I feel like the day before I want to go then I’ll go but if I’m not up for it then I’ll just say I’m not ready for it. They’ll always get a replacement to come in and take my place.”
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O’Sullivan was much more certain about playing in the International Championship, though, adding: “Possibly, yeah in November, just outside of Shanghai.
“That’s a ranking event, quite a big tournament, I’ll play in that and then I’ll go to another city in China and play in an Asian PTC event which is just for Chinese players but they’ve invited me to go along and play, so I’ll go and do that as well.
“I’ll come back and probably have a week off then probably go to York because it’s the UK Championships and I like York. Then off to Macau again at Christmas. That’s the plan.”
In a separate interview with talkSPORT, O’Sullivan all but confirmed his participation in the International Championship in China.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has previously complained of feeling ‘drained’ at the end of a season (Image: Getty)
He said: “I think I go back out to China in November, I’ll be out there a couple of weeks, and that’s about it really, I don’t know what I’m doing in between or after that.”
O’Sullivan’s participation in the UK Championship, which is scheduled for November 23, may also be in doubt. It remains to see which tournaments he will choose to play between now and the New Year.
The seven-time world champion has enjoyed a hectic schedule in 2024. Among his best results have been runs to the semi-final at the Shanghai Masters and the Xi’an Grand Prix.