UPDATED NEWS: Ronnie O’Sullivan gives 3 reasons why he must quit Snooker for another job.
Snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan has warned he will quit snooker if he is restricted from playing in China; “If I can’t go and do what I need to do, which is play a lot in China, I won’t ever play again. So, we’re at a kind of crossroads now”
Ronnie O’Sullivan has warned he will quit snooker if he is restricted from playing in China.
Exhibition events in the Far East are becoming increasingly lucrative, but often clash with World Snooker Tour events. O’Sullivan and other UK-based players are contracted to play in WST tournaments and could face sanctions if they miss events to play overseas.
According to the seven-time world champion, there is a “crossroads” in the sport.
“I won’t ever play again if I can’t go and do what I need to do, which is play a lot in China,” O’Sullivan declared in a BBC interview promoting his new documentary. That puts us at a bit of a crossroads.
“I probably won’t play if that gets to the point where I can’t do that or am not allowed to do that. I still want to play snooker and have a cue in my hand, so I’ll probably go play Chinese 8-Ball.
“I simply cannot find enough here in the UK to make up for the work that I have put in.
“I’d love to be able to just keep playing snooker for the next five, six, seven, eight years, but if I’m going to be forced into a situation where that’s not possible, then I’m not going to just accept whatever 132 players do, which is to go and play tournament after tournament, week in, week out.”
O’Sullivan has famously derided the standard on the WST in the past, suggesting he would need to lose a limb to drop down the rankings.
He still adopts that stance, claiming he is “revolted” by mediocrity.
“I don’t think it’s very hard to be a top-16 snooker player. I could probably get away with playing once a week for two or three hours a day,” O’Sullivan, 47, added.
“I find it hard to put myself in their shoes because I was in their shoes and I didn’t accept top 50 as OK.
“I’m not a great lover for mediocrity… I find it quite revolting in some ways, when I see people accepting that. That’s why I don’t hang around snooker people at venues because I just don’t like seeing it.
“I don’t think there’s enough good matches. I think there’s a lot of players that people don’t know, that don’t play the game in the right way.”
