Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of six ranking tournaments this season, the latest of which came on Tuesday just four hours before he was scheduled to play Jamie Clarke at the Welsh Open
Snooker legend John Higgins believes that Ronnie O’Sullivan will be back playing soon after he pulled out of yet another tournament.
O’Sullivan, 49, withdrew from the Welsh Open just four hours before his match against Jamie Clarke on Tuesday. The seven-time world champion hasn’t been at the table since making a brief appearance during the Championship League last month.
Having looked visibly frustrated with his game, O’Sullivan admitted that he ‘lost the plot’, snapping his cue after pulling out of the event. There’s been no indication of when we can expect to see the Rocket back in action, and speculation of him retiring has ramped up after he withdrew from a ranking tournament for the sixth time this season.
Higgins, though, reckons that his old rival won’t be out for much longer and thinks O’Sullivan’s continued absence is due to him getting used to a new cue. “I think he’ll be back,” the Scot said following his second-round win against Robert Milkins.
“I think obviously it’s well-documented with his cue. I think he’s one of the sort of guys who will not want to turn up to an event and not be used to the new piece of equipment that he wants to use. I think he’ll be putting the hours in behind the scenes and getting himself ready for the last part of the season, without a doubt.”
On the horizon are big tournaments in China, Hong Kong and the UK, with the World Championship starting in April. O’Sullivan is next scheduled to compete in the World Open in Yushan, Taiwan at the end of this month.
The 49-year-old cited exhaustion as his reason for missing the Masters, having recently taken part in a number of exhibition events abroad. “It was a nightmare decision really to make,” O’Sullivan explained to Eurosport.
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“I’ve obviously been on this three-week trip, away playing, and I think I just exhausted myself. (There was) a lot of pressure while I was away and the build-up of all that kind of got too much. I lost the plot on Thursday and snapped my cue so that’s unplayable, so I just knew at that moment in time, the right decision was not to play.”
Despite receivin a bye in the Welsh Open, Clarke was ‘disappointed’ not to face able to face icon O’Sullivan. “There was a part of me that was relishing the opportunity, maybe about 20 percent of me was disappointed because he’s coming to the end of his career, and you don’t get many chances to play Ronnie,” Clarke told the BBC.
“He picks and chooses his events, and rightly so, but I was probably more happy than not happy. Although it would’ve been nice to play him.”