The Ronnie O'Sullivan hint that suggests Rocket could miss World Championships
Fans are on the edge of their seat waiting to see if the Rocket will return to action at the Crucible
He's had the entire sport speculating when he'll return, but Ronnie O'Sullivan's latest message could suggest the Rocket might not be back in action at the Crucible.
Ronnie hasn't played competitive snooker since a frustrating Championship League campaign that saw him snap his cue and storm off, before pulling out of a Masters first round showdown with old foe John Higgins. Since then the Rocket has also pulled out of the German Masters, Welsh Open and World Grand Prix - despite saying he would compete just days before the event was scheduled to start.
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The challenge of competing with a new cue has been one theory given for his absence, however in promoting his latest event fans have been left fearing that the seven time world champ won't be producing more Crucible magic this year. A flyer promoting an event in Saudi Arabia between April 8 and 10, just nine days before action in Sheffield begins, on his social media says: "Be close to Ronnie and watch him during his preparation for the World Snooker Tour."
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The World Snooker Tour (WST) covers all the sport's major events, however the World Championships is the only one left take place after the public session - with fans reading plenty into the wording of the statement. One on X said: "Telling that it doesn't say his prep for the Crucible," and another social media post added: "Can we read anything into this not naming the world champs as the event Ronnie is training for?"
The Riyadh event will see Ronnie take part in sessions under the guidance of Nigel Bond, with fans also having the chance to take part in a Q&A with the icon. Where he could reveal more about his plans ahead of the Crucible showpiece.
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If he does pull out however, then fans could transfer their support to Jack Lisowski - who was compared to Ronnie after the World Open. Heaping praise on Jack-Pot, who is still without a ranking title, Ali Carter told TNT Sport: "In one sense, I really enjoyed playing Jack Lisowski, because he's the closest thing we've got to Ronnie O'Sullivan. But when you're playing him, you've just got a tiger by its tail the whole time."