O’Sullivan threatens to quit in row with snooker chiefs

LONDON: Ronnie O’Sullivan has warned he will quit snooker if he is restricted from playing non-tour events in China, saying his career is at a “crossroads”.

Exhibition events in East Asia are becoming increasingly lucrative but often clash with World Snooker Tour dates. Seven-time world champion O’Sullivan and other UK-based players are contracted to play in WST tournaments and could face sanctions if they miss events.

“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,” he told the BBC. “So, we’re at a kind of crossroads now.

“If that gets to the point where I’m not able to do that, I’m not allowed to do that, I probably won’t play. I’ll probably go and play Chinese 8-Ball because I still want to play snooker, I still want a cue in my hand.

“There’s just not enough here in the UK for me to justify the effort that I put in.

“If someone’s going to respect me and value me more, why would I not go there? It’s like being in an unhealthy relationship with someone. Why would you be in that?”

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O’Sullivan, who said he wanted to play snooker for many years to come, 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,” said the 47-year-old.

“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.”