WORLD CHAMPION Ronnie O’Sullivan is set to give up his title without a defence after it was announced today that he does not plan to compete in any World Snooker Tour events for the rest of the 2012/13 season.
World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn, quoted by the BBC, said: “I have spoken to Ronnie and he has decided to withdraw from any events he has entered, and he will not be playing for the rest of this season.
“He has some personal issues which he needs to resolve and we wish him all the best for the future.”
O’Sullivan, whose turbulent career has been punctuated by repeated threats he might quit snooker for good, announced after winning his fourth world title in May he intended to take a six-month break from the sport.
Although the 36-year-old returned to play in a low-profile Players Tour Championship event in September, he withdrew from last week’s International Championship in Chengdu, China, citing illness.
The gifted O’Sullivan remains modern snooker’s biggest crowd-pleaser and is one of the few present-day leading cuemen to have a wider following amongst the general British sporting public in an era which, while admired for overall levels of technical excellence, is criticised for lacking “characters”.
I’m sure Murphy is a very good coach with plenty of strong recommendations but is this an opportunity lost to bring someone new into the fold with different ideas who isn’t tied to the current management team?
@Ricky Wright: I think Irfu have taken a good approach to u20′s management in the last number of years. They seem to go for coaches who place a high degree of emphasis on skills and heads up rugby. Probably why the 20′s have been more exciting to watch over the last number of years than the senior team.
@Punts & Race Discussion: if we look at the sort of players which have come through and are coming through at Munster and Leinster in the forwards it makes a great reading for the type of players Ireland are looking to produce. I know am missing a few guys here but off top my head that reads well from last few years. All athletically gifted and skilled.
Doris
Deegan
Baird
Connors
Kelleher
Penny
Porter
Ryan
Sheehan
Wycherley x2
Coombes
Ahern
Hodnett
@Punts & Race Discussion: personally I think it was a mistake to have the u20 national team head coach as the academy coach for a province. That was changed in January with Kieran Campbell being appointed. Now the rumour is he’s heading to England which is fair enough. The u20 game is a shambles at the moment due to lack of games as a result of covid. Hopefully it’ll get going again soon
Great Appointment