Ronnie O’Sullivan insists he is prioritising his ‘health and well-being’ after his late withdrawal from the Welsh Open this week.
The Rocket has not played since the Championship League in January when he withdrew before his final group game. During the tournament, he lost three of his four matches and snapped his cue after missing an easy pink in a 3-2 defeat to Robert Milkins.
O’Sullivan then pulled out of the Masters at Alexandra Palace and the German Masters in Berlin.
Less than 24 hours before he was due to play in the Welsh Open this week, O’Sullivan withdrew from the tournament in Llandudno.
O’Sullivan’s decision sparked criticism from fans who had purchased tickets to watch him play, while his call to pull out of the tournament means he has now withdrawn from six ranking tournaments this season.
On Thursday night, O’Sullivan released a statement to fans which read: ‘I realise plenty of people who bought tickets to some recent snooker events will have been frustrated when I withdrew, so I just wanted to say sorry to those of you who’ve been disappointed with me having to pull out of those tournaments.
‘I’ve been trying to prioritise my health and well-being, which sometimes means making last-minute decisions not to play. It’s never an easy decision and I hate letting people down.
‘I’m doing what I can to get back to my best, and I’m grateful for all your support and understanding.’
O’Sullivan’s return date remains unclear but his next scheduled game is in the World Open against Stuart Carrington in China on February 23.
Speaking about his decision to withdraw from the Masters in January, the 49-year-old told Eurosport: ‘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 ok 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.
‘I lost the plot on Thursday, snapped my cue, so that’s unplayable, so I knew at that moment in time the right decision was to not play and such a big tournament that I thought whoever was to come in should have had at least a couple of days notice.’
When asked about his snapped cue, O’Sullivan said: ‘It was in the bin, one of them wheelie bins, but my mate said we can’t leave that here, so he got it out and brought it with us.
‘I’ve got a couple of other cues that I can start practicing with because there’s some tournaments coming up. I’m going to continue to play so I need to get used to the cue now.’
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