RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has withdrawn from another major snooker event.
The Rocket rejected the chance to play at the English Open this, the second year in a row he has not featured in the tournament.
And he was also absent from the British Open last week, which was eventually won by Welshman Jak Jones.
He cited medical grounds for the withdrawal, a reason which has also seen him miss a number of other tournaments in recent years.
And now the 50-year-old has pulled out of his next scheduled event, the International Championship in China.
The competition is one of China’s biggest, carrying a hefty jackpot of £175,000 for the winner.
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But O’Sullivan elected not to battle for that prize after he was told he would be sent to the qualifiers for the first time.
The competition has a set number of qualifying matches held over for the main tournament stage, with the snooker GOAT being among that number previously.
But there was no room for him this time, with home stars Wu Yize, Zhao Xintong and Ding Junhui snapping up the holdover spots.
It will be an emotional return for Wu especially, who bagged his first career ranking event win at last year’s tournament, before going on to win the World Championship in May.
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O’Sullivan was subsequently lined up to play Louis Heathcote in the traditional qualifier for the tournament on September 17th, held at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester.
But he pulled out of the qualifier, with Leicester local Heathcote already receiving a new challenger in the form of amateur Joshua Thomond.
O’Sullivan is finally expected to return to the baize at the Shenzhen Open as he takes on Jiang Jun on September 28th.
Despite his table shyness – and his fury at his recent form – the Rocket recently resolved to push forward in his career for the time being.
He said: “To be honest with you, I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. I will see out the next 18 months, see how I go.
“I won’t throw in the towel just yet. I have committed to playing until then.”