Ronnie O'Sullivan has pulled out of snooker's Champion of Champions tournament the day before he was due to start his first match.
The 16 tournament winners over the last year come together at the University of Bolton Stadium this week to play the final competition before the 2023 season ends. The winner will receive a £150,000 prize, with O'Sullivan having won a record four titles.
But O'Sullivan will not take up the chance to extend his record this week as he announced his withdrawal. The Rocket announced his decision on social media, citing a desire to look after his mental health as his main reason for pulling out.
He said: "Hi guys, just wanted to let you know I’m unfortunately withdrawing from the Champions of champions event tomorrow. Mentally I feel a bit drained and stressed and I want to look after my mental health and my body. I’m sorry to all the fans but I’ll be back stronger."
O'Sullivan had been set to face International Championship winner Zhang Anda in his Round One match on Wednesday afternoon. Ding Junhui will now fly out to Bolton to take the place of O'Sullivan and will face Zhang instead.
Whoever wins that clash will then face John Higgins or Chris Wakelin in the quarter-finals on Thursday. The final will take place on Sunday, with Zhang qualifying for the tournament after beating Tom Ford to win the International Championship.
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Zhang had beaten O'Sullivan in the semi-finals of that tournament in China on Saturday. After winning the competition, the 31-year-old revealed his delight.
“I’m feeling extremely excited. During the pandemic, I had considered retiring and giving up. But later on, I couldn’t bear it and chose to return to the arena. I have been doing quite well in the past two or three years,” Zhang said.
“The English Open had a significant impact on my improvement. When facing a disadvantage, I tell myself not to slack off. The English Open final taught me a valuable lesson and provided a great experience.
"This time, I maintained my focus because the opponent could have come back at any moment. If you watch the maximum break back I had a fairly tough red where I stopped for a while. I made up my mind to play position for the black and it led to the 147.
"It was pretty straightforward after that point and I’m glad I went for it. Right now, I want to see my son immediately. After reaching the semi-finals, I had discussed with my family about bringing my son to Tianjin.
"I miss him a lot and because this tournament is in Tianjin and I didn’t have time to go back to Guangdong. However, after checking the transportation, I realised that the journey is still quite far for a young child, so I haven’t seen him yet.”
