Ronnie O'Sullivan: Masters withdrawal was 'nightmare' decision after Rocket 'lost the plot'

Ronnie O'Sullivan stated that he made a "nightmare" decision to withdraw from the Masters due to physical reasons after "losing control" last Thursday. As the defending champion, he had planned to pursue his ninth individual title and was scheduled to play a highly anticipated opening match against John Higgins on Sunday.

However, the 49-year-old chose not to participate in the invitation-only tournament featuring the top 16 players, citing a combination of fatigue and stress after losing 2-3 to Robert Milkins in the Championship League held in Leicester. The "Rocket" O'Sullivan appeared very frustrated at the time, breaking his cue and throwing it into a trash can, and later withdrawing from his final group match that same day. On Friday, it was officially announced that he would miss the Masters, with Neil Robertson taking his place as a substitute.

O'Sullivan said in an interview with Eurosport: "It really was a nightmare decision. If you had asked me on Sunday if I was ready to play, I probably could have. It's a really important event." In recent weeks, O'Sullivan has participated in lucrative exhibition matches in the Far East alongside several top players, and prior to that, he also participated in the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in Saudi Arabia at the end of December.

O'Sullivan explained: "I obviously had a three-week run of traveling and playing matches, and I think I just ran myself into the ground. I was under a lot of pressure when I was away, and it all just became too much. I lost control on Thursday, broke my cue, so it was unusable. At that point, I knew the right decision was not to play. It's a very important event, and I feel that any player who comes in as a substitute should at least have a few days' notice."

Since turning professional in 1992, O'Sullivan has won 41 ranking titles and 7 World Championship titles in his illustrious career, and first won the Masters in 1995 at the age of 19. His success 12 months ago at the age of 48 means he holds the record for both the oldest and youngest champion in the triple crown event. He also chose to miss the Masters in 2020. O'Sullivan confirmed that he is now "all good" and that he needs to adjust to a new cue because he damaged his last one. He said, "It's in the bin, one of those wheeled bins, but my friend said we can't leave it there, so he took it out and took it away." O'Sullivan stated that he has several other cues he can start practicing with, as there are more tournaments coming up, and he will continue to compete, so he needs to adjust to the new cue.