Ronnie O’Sullivan is set to take a break from snooker after dropping out of the German Masters.
Ronnie O’Sullivan confirmed that he would be taking a break from snooker, starting with this week’s German Masters, to prioritise his health and wellbeing. The Rocket has won each of his last three tournaments, including the UK Championship and Masters, with one man especially tipped to be relieved that the 48-year-old is stepping back from the sport.
O’Sullivan came from behind to defeat Ding Junhui in the UK Championship final, before then getting the better of the Chinese star on his way to victories at the Masters and World Grand Prix.
Only O’Sullivan has beaten the in-form Ding at recent major tournaments, including in their Barbican final when they went toe-to-toe for the UK Championship before the Rocket powered ahead in the final few frames.
Snooker commentator and former world No. 3 Neal Foulds believes that Ding will be one of O’Sullivan’s rivals happy to see him take a break from snooker. “[O’Sullivan] can’t keep winning every week, of course he can’t, but right now, when he’s playing well, it’s hard to see who steps up to take him down,” Foulds wrote for Sporting Life.
“The tournament organisers in Germany might be disappointed he isn’t in Berlin, but the other players will be relieved. One man who will be particularly happy to see the back of Ronnie is Ding, denied late in the UK Championship final and completely blown away in that session of their semi-final at the World Grand Prix. It was simply awesome stuff from Ronnie, and my ITV colleague Ken Doherty described it as the best session of snooker he’s ever seen.
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