Stephen Hendry makes Ronnie O’Sullivan bombshell retirement claim after snooker withdrawals

Stephen Hendry has admitted that it would be a shame if snooker great Ronnie O’Sullivan never played in a tournament in the UK again after the ‘Rocket’ pulled out of the Welsh Open last weekend

Stephen Hendry has said it would be a shame if Ronnie O’Sullivan never plays in another UK snooker tournament.

At 49 years old, O’Sullivan boasts an impressive seven World Championships but has been noticeably absent from ranking tournaments since the UK Championship in November. His no-shows at the Masters, German Masters, and now the Welsh Open have raised eyebrows.

Despite being scheduled to play at the World Open qualifiers in Yushan, China, against Stuart Carrington this Sunday, doubts linger about his participation. Speaking on the Snooker Club podcast, Hendry said: “Obviously, he does like playing in China, and obviously, he’s loved over there and in Hong Kong. I’d be shocked if he didn’t play.

“But I don’t know. I don’t know what to think about what’s going on, really. Obviously smashing the cue has had an effect, but when he’s working at your sporting events, I hear he’s still on the practice table, still playing.

“Part of me thinks, ‘Is he just going to play in the World Championship? Is that the goal now? Is that the game for the season, the plan?’ I don’t know, but there’s no doubt if he’s not in an event, the event suffers a little. There’s no doubt about it. The event is slightly affected by him not being in it.”

When questioned about O’Sullivan’s seeming preference for overseas tournaments over those in the UK, Hendry replied: “I don’t know whether it’s… is it just because it’s the UK? I don’t know. But I just… I’ve been saying it for a while now on this podcast, I think that the competitive, sort of, juices are maybe not what they are.

“I think maybe he prefers just playing exhibitions, prefers doing a but of punditry, and having no sort of expectation of pressure. Maybe he’s just got to that stage in his life where he just thinks… I don’t know, he maybe just doesn’t want to put that sort of mental effort into playing in comps.

“I honestly don’t know, it’s a strange one. As I say, it’s a disappointing one for the fans, for me – I love watching him play. For obviously World Snooker, he’s not in their events. So yeah… Hesitant to say it but it would be a shame if we never see him play again in a tournament. I don’t know what his plans are.”

It comes after O’Sullivan pulled out of the Welsh Open last weekend, citing his need to prioritise his health and wellbeing. In a statement, he explained: “I’ve been trying to prioritise my health and wellbeing, which sometimes means making last-minute decisions not to play.

“It’s never an easy decision and I hate letting people down. 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. I’m doing what I can to get back to my best, and I’m grateful for all your support and understanding.”