With his name still in the draw less than 24 hours before he was due to play in Llandudno it was thought that he would return to the table at the Welsh Open but it has been confirmed on Tuesday morning that he has pulled out.
Explaining his choice to pull out of the Masters in January, he told Eurosport: ‘It was a nightmare decision really to make, if you’d have asked me Sunday if I was ready to play I’d probably have been ok to play.
The Rocket’s scheduled opponent in Wales, Clarke, is fighting for tour survival so the free pass to the next round, and the ranking points that come with it, is welcome, but part of him would liked to have faced the Rocket.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of the Welsh Open, with opponent Jamie Clarke receiving a bye to the second round in Llandudno.
‘I lost the plot on Thursday, snapped my cue, so that’s unplayable, so I knew at that moment in time the right decision was to not play and such a big tournament that I thought whoever was to come in should have had at least a couple of days notice.’.
