Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of the German Masters for the third consecutive year. Citing ‘medical reasons’, the snooker legend will not be facing Welsh up-and-comer Dylan Emery in the opening round.
The absence of O’Sullivan from the World Snooker Tour (WST) line-up continues, following his previous withdrawals from both the Championship League and the Masters. He blamed exhaustion for missing the latter event.
For three straight years now, the 49-year-old has eschewed participation in the Berlin-based competition at the Tempodrom; an event scheduled to begin on 27 January. As such, his decision to step back may not have been entirely unexpected.
In a statement released last week, the WST confirmed The Rocket’s absence. They wrote: “Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from next week’s Machineseeker German Masters due to medical reasons.”
O’Sullivan had previously opted out of his final Championship League match against Ali Carter in Leicester, after losing four of his first five in the competition. Later in January, having been lined up against snooker great John Higgins at the Masters, O’Sullivan withdrew yet again.
Soon after, he explained his reasons to Eurosport. “Yeah, it was a nightmare decision to make,” O’Sullivan confessed.
“You know, if you’d have asked me Sunday if was I ready to play, I probably would have been okay to play. But it’s such a massive tournament.
“I’ve obviously been on this three-week trip away playing, and I just think I exhausted myself. [There was] a lot of pressure while I was away, and I just think the build-up of all that kind of just got a bit too much, really.”
“The right decision was not to play. It’s such a big tournament I felt whoever was going to come in should at least have a couple of days’ notice.”
O’Sullivan isn’t the only high profile player to have pulled out of the German Masters. Chinese legend Ding Junhui has also withdrawn, and offered no explanation for his absence. His scheduled opponent, Ross Muir, will now advance into the last 32, as will O’Sullivan’s scheduled opponent Emery.