Ronnie O’Sullivan pulls out of Scottish Open for ‘medical reasons’ just hours before opening match leaving rival furious
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has been forced to pull out of the Scottish Open for “medical reasons” just hours before his first game – leaving his opponent furious.
The world No1, 48, was set to take on Liam Graham in the opening round today.
AFPRonnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from the Scottish Open[/caption]
FacebookThe decision left 19-year-old opponent Liam Graham (left) furious[/caption]
However, he will now no longer be competing in the event in Edinburgh after announcing his withdrawal.
The “medical reason” has yet to be confirmed.
The announcement comes just a week after he clinched a record eighth UK Championship after beating Ding Junhui in the final.
O’Sullivan, whose success has helped him amass a car collection that includes a £180k Ferrari and £183k Bentley, had previously hinted that he would skip the Scottish Open.
That was because he was planning on focusing on a more lucrative event taking place in China.
O’Sullivan said: “I’m looking forward to a break. I think I have to monitor my schedule a lot, and I just think prevention is better than cure and I don’t want to get to the point where I hit a bad spot.”
And 19-year-old rookie Graham, in his first season as a pro and who had several family and friends travelling to watch him face The Rocket, has been left fuming.
After getting a bye into the next round to take on Belgian youngster Ben Mertens, he told the Daily Record: “It’s disrespectful what he’s done, it’s not right. A lot of people took time off work to come and watch today and it’s disappointing.
“At the end of the day I want to play the best players in the world and I was really looking forward to it. I had a lot of people coming to watch and it’s really disappointing for them.
“It’s not surprising given the things he does. I found out when I got to the venue this morning. I didn’t have much prior warning, I think he pulled out very late.
“I would have stayed at home and all the people who have travelled to watch me would have come another day as well.”
This is the second tournament within the last month that the star has withdrawn from.
O’Sullivan was also unable to defend his Champion of Champions title due to feeling “drained and stressed” in November.
The snooker legend opened up on his mental health battles and daily addictions in a documentary last month.
O’Sullivan stated that he was going to pick and choose his tournaments from now on in order to try and prolong his iconic career.
However, he could also have one eye on The Masters, which runs from January 7 to 14.
