Ronnie O'Sullivan to 'probably miss' Scottish Open ahead of Macau exhibition - 'Have to monitor my schedule'
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Published 02/12/2023 at 19:50 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan recently pulled out of the Champion of Champions event and also missed the Northern Ireland Open and British Open, and 'The Rocket' has told Eurosport he will "probably miss" the final Home Nations event of the year - the Scottish Open. The world No. 1 is due to play in a lucrative exhibition in Macau just days after the conclusion of the event in Edinburgh.
O'Sullivan says he is 'looking forward to a break' after reaching UK Championship final
Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed that he will “probably miss” the Scottish Open in favour of preparing for an exhibition event in Macau.
The Rocket was speaking in the Eurosport studio after sealing his place in the final of the UK Championship with a 6-2 win over Hossein Vafaei.
The world No. 1 admits he is "looking forward to a break" after Sunday's final and intends to skip the last Home Nations Series event of the year, with a lucrative exhibition in Macau event taking place just days after the final in Edinburgh.
The Macau exhibition was originally due to be held in October but was postponed after it clashed with the Northern Ireland Open.
Five players, including five-time world champion Mark Selby and current world champion Luca Brecel, had intended to miss the event in Belfast and instead play in Macau.
World Snooker Tour honorary president Barry Hearn had warned that any player missing the Home Nations tournament to play in China would receive a stern punishment for a breach of contract.
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O'Sullivan withdrew from the Northern Ireland Open and later the British Open for medical reasons. He also pulled out from the Champion of Champions due to "mentally feeling a bit drained and stressed”.
Asked where the UK Championship ranks among his list of priorities, O’Sullivan said: “I think the most important tournaments for me are the ones where I have a good relations with the promoters.
"For me, it’s not a matter of how big the tournament is, it’s about how well you get looked after.
"I find in Asia and Thailand we get much better looked after so I enjoy them. It doesn’t matter where I play snooker – China, in Thailand – a snooker table is a snooker table, but if you're just looked after better I always try to go to those tournaments and fit what I can around it.
"I’m not really bothered about missing too many of the leisure centre sort of events. I don’t really like playing in them. If I do alright in the big events then I don’t need to play them, but if I don’t do so well then I can always nip down to Brentwood Leisure Centre and try to hit a few balls!"
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He added: "I'm looking forward to a break. I think I have to monitor my schedule a lot, and I just think prevention is better than cure and I don’t want to get to the point where I hit a bad spot.
"So, I think for me, it’ll be try to enjoy this tournament, then probably miss Scotland and then go to Macau for Christmas for a big event. I’m looking forward to that. I want to be ready for that, it’s an important event."
O’Sullivan was asked if he had to go to the “trenches” so far at the UK Championship after a recent documentary detailed the mental challenges he has faced in the past.
He responded: “Within myself I’ve had to go there, I don’t enjoy struggling. I’ve had to grind it out, struggle out there and I’ve felt like I’ve wanted to jack it all in – all those kinds of emotions. But you don’t, you have to dig in and fight and I’ve come through it.
"Now I just feel quite more relaxed than I ever have done in a tournament."
After prevailing in back-to-back deciders against Robert Milkins and Zhou Yuelong respectively, it was a much more convincing display from O'Sullivan as he brushed aside Vafaei.
But O'Sullivan, who is hunting a record-extending eighth title, wasn't entirely happy with this showing.
"It was alright, you know. It was acceptable. Something to work with. I could take what was there. The dynamic stuff wasn’t there. Sometimes just steady’s alright," he said.
"He [Vafaei] played strong in all his other matches, scoring well. He just didn’t bring that sort of game. From 2-0 to 2-2 he did, but then after that he missed a few, made my job a little bit easier.
"Early rounds, you can maybe get away with it. But I was searching for a game that’s going to be good enough to win me a tournament. You’re always tinkering a bit, that’s just where I’m at with it really.
"It’s important to be able to win when you’re not playing well, that’s the only thing that’s missing from John Higgins’ game.
"It’s something which is not appreciated enough in snooker, winning matches when you’re not playing well, just finding a way through. A few of them and you stand a chance of winning tournaments, that’s what I’ve done a few times in my career."
O'Sullivan will meet either Judd Trump or Ding Junhui in Sunday's final.
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