Ronnie O’Sullivan pulled out of the British Open just hours before it was set to go ahead to continue a shocking week for the snooker legend.
It comes just days after he crashed out of the English Open at the first round and news of his break-up with fiancee Laila.
Snooker fans were left disappointed when they arrived at the Cheltenham venue to find that O’Sullivan had pulled out of the tournament.
No announcement was made up until the very last moment when his name was omitted from the first-round.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of the British Open
PA
“Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of the Unibet British Open, which starts today in Cheltenham,” a World Snooker Tour statement read.
“He was due to face Manasawin Phetmalaikul at 7pm on Monday. O’Sullivan has ben replaced by Lewis Ullah, the highest available player from the 2024 Q School ranking list.
Rocket had been set to face Manasawin Phetmalaikul but he was replaced with Lewis Ullah on the tournament schedule.
O’Sullivan has only competed in the British Open once since 2021, though plenty of stars are taking part in this year’s competition.
Kyren Wilson and Judd Trump are among those competing but defending champion Mark Williams was sent crashing out in the opening round.
Williams had beaten Mark Selby in the final last year but was beaten comfortably by Malaysian star Rory Thoras 4-1.
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Speaking on ITV4, Stephen Hendry said: “It was a very, very poor performance. He’s using a new cue, I hope he was paid nicely because it’s going to derail his season. It’s going to take him a bit of getting used to.
“It sounded horrific and his play was horrific. It was very, very bad.”
As for O’Sullivan, the 48-year-old has never been a big fan of the British Open but it follows a turbulent few weeks.
At the English Open, the seven-time world champion crashed out in the first round to He Guoqiang and criticised his own performance.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan has recently split up with his fiancee Laila
PA
“I’m awful, it’s embarrassing,” he said. “I miss so many balls. I can’t get away from it, poor, but there’s nothing I can do about it.
“I’ve been missing balls for the last four or five years and every now and then I’ll miss a few less, maybe, and get a couple of results.
“I’m absolutely useless. Forget about the Worlds. I’m not even bothered to be honest with you, if I’m going to play rubbish I might as well play left-handed.
“Play left-handed and enjoy it, but be useless, or play right-handed, be useless and not enjoy it.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan has hit out at his performances lately
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“I haven’t got long, I’m not going to deny it, I’m not playing well enough, there’s no point in even worrying about it. I’ve just accepted it now which is quite a nice place to be really.”
Last week, it also emerged that he had split from long-term fiancee Laila after 12 years of dating.
O’Sullivan is not expected to return to action until the Wuhan Open on October 6.