Will Ronnie O'Sullivan miss the World Championship? Rocket 'open to offers' to skip snooker's biggest event

ByEurosport

Updated 02/03/2022 at 23:55 GMT

Ronnie O'Sullivan could decide to miss the World Championship in Sheffield if he gets "a better offer". The six-time Crucible winner discussed potentially skipping the blue-chip event after opening his bid for a fifth Welsh Open with a 4-0 whitewash of James Cahill and a 4-2 victory over Lukas Kleckers. Stream the 2022 Welsh Open and much more top snooker action live and on demand on discovery+.

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Ronnie O'Sullivan has suggested he may opt out of the 46th World Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield next month if he is offered a more enticing business "proposal" but is the record 38-time ranking event winner serious about missing snooker's biggest event?

O'Sullivan turned professional in 1992 and is widely regarded as the snooker GOAT. He holds all of the key records in the sport apart from Stephen Hendry's seven world titles claimed in 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1999.

That remains an obvious target for the World No 2 after he triumphed for a sixth time with an 18-8 win over Kyren Wilson in 2020.

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What did he say?

“At some point you have to cut the emotions off, and it’s just a business. I look at what’s best for me," said O'Sullivan, speaking to the BBC after rolling in breaks of 53, 83 and 90 in 4-0 whitewash of James Cahill – the amateur who shocked him at the 2019 World Championship – in the first round of the Welsh Open in only 43 minutes.

“If someone rang me up next week and said we have a great job for you but it clashes with the World Championship and it was a better offer, then I’d go.

“Yes, absolutely, 100 per cent I would miss the World Championships for a better offer. I am all about business, and that’s how it has been for the last seven or eight years.

“No matter what it is I’ll look at it as a proposal and ask, is it something I want to do? And if it is, I’ll make a decision on it.

"That’s the best way for me to do it. If the World Championship was something I loved doing, then not a lot would tempt me away.

"For the last seven or eight years it’s worked really well and that’s probably why I’m still playing, otherwise I’d probably have hung my cue up.

"It's more of a hobby, a serious hobby. If I'd got beat 4-0 today I wouldn't have been too disappointed.

"I just make decision on each tournament and each proposal.

My time is very, very valuable and I want to feel valued for my time, so as long as I'm feeling valued in what I'm doing and I don't feel like I'm wasting my time then I'd be anywhere. I don't really care.

When is the World Championship?

The World Championship begins on Saturday 16 April and concludes on Monday 2 May at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield with qualifying at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield running between 4-13 April.

Mark Selby is the defending champion following his 18-15 win over Shaun Murphy last year.

Will O'Sullivan miss the sport's biggest event?

Possible, but highly improbable. Especially with the chance of equalling his old rival Hendry's seven Crucible titles in the modern era still very much a realistic option. This is also not the first time the Englishman has mooted the idea of opting out of the World Championship.

The elongated nature of such cue ball combat is excruciating by its very being with a top-16 seed needing to win a marathon 71 frames over 17 days to become champion.

During the Northern Ireland Open in November 2017, O'Sullivan made a similar suggestion when he said: "It is about getting the balance right. 17 days at Sheffield is okay if you win it, but if you don't win it is a waste of time."

O'Sullivan has carried off the world crown in 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2020.

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He memorably decided to take a year out in 2012 after defeating Ali Carter 18-11 to claim his fourth title before returning 12 months later to clasp his fifth with an 18-12 win over Barry Hawkins.

O'Sullivan is adamant he would be "open to offers" elsewhere to miss the World Championship, but it is difficult to see what type of inducement could match the financial incentives for conquering the Crucible.

Even if I'm a Celebrity was transported to Yorkshire for a fortnight in springtime, the Rocket would not revel in similar riches. A £500,000 winner's cheque is doled out to the world champion, £200,000 to the runner-up with a run to the semi-finals worth at least £100,000.

In saying that, the World Championship has never been an O'Sullivan destination of choice for a busman's holiday with the first three rounds in particular inside a crammed and cramped Crucible.

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"Winning the World Championship has always seemed an anti-climax to me, the same as walking out as defending champion," he commented before his defence of the trophy a year ago.

"It is what it is, it either floats your boat or it doesn't.

"I wish I shared your excitement about going for my seventh, but I don't. It suits my lifestyle, and playing snooker is probably the one part of it that I like the least."

O'Sullivan first competed at the tournament at the age of 17 and five months in 1993 when he lost 10-7 to Alan McManus and the World No 2 is due to make an astonishing record 30th consecutive appearance this year.

He says a lot of things a lot of the time about his annual period of potting purgatory and paradise in Sheffield, but expect to see him again revved up on the starting grid next month.

Legacy is likely to top largesse.