Ronnie O’Sullivan has added the World Open to his growing list of withdrawals, it was announced by the World Snooker Tour on Tuesday.
Medical reasons were again cited as the cause behind the Rocket’s refusal to play in next week’s ranking event in Yushan.
The world number four was due to face Stuart Carrington in a held-over qualifying fixture but will now be replaced by amateur top-up Daniel Womersley.
O’Sullivan has only played one event in 2025 so far – at Championship League Snooker in January where he lost four out of the five games he contested before pulling out of the competition.
The 49 year-old was so disgusted with his form at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester that he snapped his cue in half and threw it in the bin.
Since then, O’Sullivan has withdrawn from the Masters – where he was the defending champion – in addition to the German Masters and the Welsh Open.
Indeed, the Englishman hasn’t participated in a ranking tournament since losing to Barry Hawkins in the first round of the UK Championship in November.
In total, O’Sullivan has now withdrawn from nine events on the calendar during the 2024/25 snooker season.
He is next due to compete at the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong at the start of March, where he has been drawn to face Si Jiahui in the opening round.
The reigning World Grand Prix champion, O’Sullivan must have a good run in Hong Kong if he is to secure qualification for the Players Championship off the one-year ranking list.
If he continues his streak of withdrawals, however, the earliest fans will have an opportunity to see him play again may transpire to be the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
It begs the question whether we will actually witness Ronnie O’Sullivan back in action during this campaign at all.
The seven-time world champion famously took the majority of the 2012/13 term off before returning to the Crucible to successfully defend his world crown.
Right throughout his illustrious career, O’Sullivan has frequently flirted with the possibility of even quitting the sport.
“It’s a strange one,” fellow seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry said on the Snooker Club WST podcast.
“It’s a disappointing one for the fans and for me – I love watching him play.”
“I’m hesitant to say it, but it would be a shame if we never see him play again in a major tournament. I don’t know what his plans are.”
O’Sullivan, who won five big trophies during a prolific 2023/24 season, has long struggled with mental health concerns which appear to have been a factor in his lengthy period away from the game of late.
“I realise plenty of people who bought tickets to some recent snooker events will have been frustrated when I withdrew,” Ronnie O’Sullivan wrote on X following his last-minute withdrawal from the Welsh Open last week.
“I just wanted to say sorry to those of you who’ve been disappointed with me having to pull out of those tournaments.”
“I’ve been trying to prioritise my health and well-being, which sometimes means making last-minute decisions not to play.
“It’s never an easy decision and I hate letting people down. I’m doing what I can to get back to my best, and I’m grateful for all your support and understanding.”
It’s fair to say that opinion on O’Sullivan across social media has been divided, with many supportive of the former world number one but others growing exceedingly weary from the regularity of his no-shows.
What’s certain is that, while snooker goes on and there are plenty of other stories to follow, every single event misses O’Sullivan when he’s not there.
His actions may frustrate people, but he undoubtedly remains the game’s most important box-office star who can constantly attract a wider audience.
It would be sad if he were to be absent for the remainder of the campaign, which is looking like an increasingly likely possibility.
It would be devastating for the sport if his withdrawals were to transform into something more permanent.
Featured photo credit: WST
How secure is Ronnie O’Sullivan’s top 16 status if he weren’t to play again this season? How many ranking points is he defending? If he finds himself going below that threshold, then I would not expect him to continue playing professionally myself. As long as he has enough points from his good season last season to maintain top 16 he may reappear at any stage. Or not I suppose.
Very secure. He’ll definitely still have a high ranking. It won’t be until next season when the bigger points start to come off.
Thanks, that’s good to know, and a positive aspect to things for rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan fans. Whilst he’s still retaining his elite professional status there’s still every possibility that he will be back with a vengeance at some point. Imo if he surrenders that status then it’s a sign that he’s probably finished with competitive snooker.
He’s now said that a return at the World Grand Prix will happen.
A big showing at the Crucible would help offset the concerns of so many points to defend next season.