Ronnie O’Sullivan has announced he’s planning to take part in a Q&A and a practice session in Saudi Arabia after not featuring in a competitive snooker event since the beginning of January. The Rocket last played at a Championship League event at the beginning of the year, but has since withdrawn from several events on medical grounds.
O’Sullivan is tied with Stephen Hendry for the third-most World Championship titles, having won seven during his long and illustrious career. The Wordsley-born ace is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, but questions about his future in the sport have been asked following his recent hiatus.
However, O’Sullivan is set for a return to the public eye when he makes an appearance at an event in Saudi Arabia next month. Taking to social media to announce the event, he told his 564,000 followers: “Delighted to announce that I’ll be heading to Riyadh 8-10th April. So for exclusive coaching from the brilliant Nigel Bond, a Q&A with me as well as watching me practice please come done. I’d love to see you all there!!”
O’Sullivan had been due to feature at last week’s Grand Prix event in Hong Kong – a competition he won last year. However, as had been the case on numerous occasions already this year, the seven-time world champion pulled out of the event.
The snooker star had already apologised to fans about his continued absence from the table, explaining last month: “I’ve been trying to prioritise my health and wellbeing, which sometimes means making last-minute decisions not to play. It’s never an easy decision and I hate letting people down.
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“I realise plenty of people who bought tickets to some recent snooker events will have been frustrated when I withdrew, so I just wanted to say sorry. I’m doing what I can to get back to my best, and I’m grateful for all your support and understanding.”
As things stand, O’Sullivan’s next appearance in a snooker competition will be the big one next month – the World Snooker Championship. That will mean he has been away from the table competitively for three months. O’Sullivan reached the quarter-final of last year’s event at the Crucible, losing to 13-10 Stuart Bingham.
Since then, O’Sullivan has made it past the last-eight stage just once, with his only semi-final appearance of the season coming in the Xi’an Grand Prix all the way back in August. The action from Sheffield gets underway on April 19 and runs for two weeks, with the final pencilled in for May 5.