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Other SportsO'Sullivan threatens to quit snooker over China row

O’Sullivan threatens to quit snooker over China row

Ronnie O’Sullivan has threatened to walk away from snooker if he is prevented from playing lucrative exhibition events in China.

The seven-time world champion, who also hit out at the standard at the top level of the game, wants to maximise his earnings but is contracted to play in a certain number of World Snooker Tour events which hamper his ability to travel to the Far East.

He told the BBC: “If I can’t go and do what I need to do, which is play a lot in China, I won’t ever play again. So, we’re at a kind of crossroads now.

“If that gets to the point where I’m not able to do that, I’m not allowed to do that, I probably won’t play. I’ll probably go and play Chinese 8-Ball because I still want to play snooker, I still want a cue in my hand.

“There’s just not enough here in the UK for me to justify the effort that I put in. If someone’s going to respect me and value me more, why would I not go there? It’s like being in an unhealthy relationship with someone, why would you be in that?”

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O’Sullivan is a regular critic of the standard in world snooker and says he finds it “revolting” that so many players settle for “mediocrity”.

He added: “I don’t think it’s very hard to be a top-16 snooker player. I could probably get away with playing once a week for two or three hours a day.

“I’m not a great lover for mediocrity, I find it quite revolting in some ways, when I see people accepting that. That’s why I don’t hang around snooker people at venues because I just don’t like seeing it.

“I don’t think there’s enough good matches. I think there’s a lot of players that people don’t know, that don’t play the game in the right way.”

Jon Fisher
Jon Fisher
Jon has over 20 years' experience in sports journalism having worked at the Press Association, Goal and Stats Perform, covering three World Cups, an Olympics and numerous other major sporting events.
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