Ronnie O’Sullivan plans to play a limited schedule over the coming months, hinting that he could skip a number of upcoming events.
The Rocket has been in action pretty regularly so far this season, with semi-final runs at the Shanghai Masters and Xi-an Grand Prix the standout results.
However, he withdrew from last week’s British Open and now suggests that he will be taking some more time off in the coming weeks.
The 48-year-old is leaving his options open, but is not committing to much other than the International Championship coming up in Nanjing next month.
Asked about the tournaments he intends to play before Christmas, O’Sullivan said on Virgin Radio: ‘I will enter them and if I feel like the day before I want to go then I’ll go but if I’m not up for it then I’ll just say I’m not ready for it. They’ll always get a replacement to come in and take my place.’
On playing in Asia he said: ‘Possibly yeah in November, just outside of Shanghai. That’s a ranking event, quite a big tournament, I’ll play in that and then I’ll go to another city in China and play in an Asian PTC event which is just for Chinese players but they’ve invited me to go along and play, so I’ll go and do that as well.
‘I’ll come back and probably have a week off then probably go to York because it’s the UK Championships and I like York. Then off to Macau again at Christmas. That’s the plan.’
O’Sullivan reiterated his thoughts on talkSPORT, saying: ‘I think I go back out to China in November, I’ll be out there a couple of weeks, and that’s about it really, I don’t know what I’m doing in between or after that.’
The Rocket is in the draw for the upcoming Wuhan Open and Northern Ireland Open, due to play Mitchell Mann in the former on Sunday 6 October and Long Zehuang in the latter on Monday 21 October.
His comments suggest he may not play in either, though, while the Champion of Champions in Bolton in November also appears in doubt, with the UK Championship coming after that event on 23 November.
O’Sullivan pulled out of both the Northern Ireland Open and the Champion of Champions last season, explaining that he was feeling ‘drained and stressed’ at that time of the season.
On withdrawing from the Champion of Champions last November, he wrote on social media: ‘Hi guys, just wanted to let you know I’m unfortunately withdrawing from the Champions of champions event tomorrow. Mentally I feel a bit drained and stressed and I want to look after my mental health and my body. I’m sorry to all the fans but I’ll be back stronger.’
The world number five did play in the inaugural Wuhan Open last year, reaching the quarter-finals before a shock 5-1 loss to Lyu Haotian.
The Rocket’s scheduling last season did appear to pay off quite spectacularly as he won five of the events that he did enter.
He chose to skip the British Open, Northern Ireland Open, Scottish Open, German Masters and Welsh Open last season, while winning the Shanghai Masters, UK Championship, Masters, World Grand Prix and World Masters of Snooker.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
