Snooker news - Former world champion Peter Ebdon retires from snooker

Ebdon's greatest moment in the sport came in May 2002 when he lifted the world title with an 18-17 win over Stephen Hendry in the final. He also defeated Hendry 10-6 four years later to win the UK Championship.

In illustrating the severity of the problem, 49-year-old Ebdon - who was born in Islington and turned professional in 1991 - revealed he had to quit to avoid surgery that could have forced him to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

"Having weighed everything up that is the decision I have come to," said Ebdon in an interview with World Championship sponsors Betfred.

"Two of the vertebrae need to be replaced, which is not an operation I want to have because if it went wrong I could be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.

"It's far too risky. The professor explained to me that it wouldn't be a cure. It could work, but it could make things worse and I would probably need to have it again in 10 years.

"The one thing I can't do if I don't have the operation is play snooker again, because of the compression in my neck. So, as sad as it is for me, that's the end.

"At the moment I can walk and talk and the pain has got better."

World champion Judd Trump paid tribute to fellow Englishman Ebdon, who won the last of his nine ranking events at the 2012 China Open.

"Happy retirement to @pdebdon what a fantastic career... Also learn a lot from playing him in my early career and he loved to take on some crazy shots at times which I have a lot of respect for lol," said Trump on Twitter.