On May 12, 2023, Beijing time, world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan revealed that he will miss next season's British snooker championship in order to focus on Asian events. This past season, O'Sullivan failed to win any ranking titles. But in recent years, he has competed in most of the competitions on the snooker calendar, but after a while, he found himself with a limited competition schedule. He has already identified four Asian championships for next season, namely the Shanghai Masters, the Wuhan Open, the International Championship and the Six Red Ball World Championship. So, O'Sullivan will start an alternative schedule next season.
O'Sullivan: I will participate in all the overseas events
After a season without a ranking tournament winner, O'Sullivan thought he should have started a different season. He hopes to make a difference by competing overseas, even if he misses all the British championships. O'Sullivan said: "I'm going down another path now, I'm going to travel, play all the overseas championships and miss all the British championships. Because I can't go to all the events. I used to say that I didn't want to travel outside and I would stay in the UK, which seemed sweet, but now I think at this stage of my career, obviously Asia is a good place to play, that's the bigger tournament, so I'll go and even miss the UK. ”
O'Sullivan: I'll schedule it based on performance
Speaking about what might happen next, O'Sullivan revealed that he will adjust his schedule based on his game form. If he doesn't play well in Asia, he may travel later to Scotland or Belfast for the tournament. If he is doing well in himself, he may stay at home for a while or walk his dog or something. O'Sullivan continued: "If I don't do well in Asia, I go home early and then I don't mind getting on a plane to Scotland or Belfast, but if I do well, I want to stay home for a week, walk my dog or something, and then fly back to India or somewhere else. In O'Sullivan's view, in the new stage of his career, he will start a different experience. He hopes that this experience will make him feel different and find his new joy in snooker.
O'Sullivan: Brecel's performance was amazing
Speaking about the World Championship final that happened some time ago, O'Sullivan admitted he was surprised to see Brecel beat Selby in a best-of-35 final. O'Sullivan said: "I think Luca Brechel's performance is unbelievable. When you talk about talent, you look at a guy who proves himself with a club and you think, how did he do it, and Luca Brecel is that player. I know how he did it, but trying to do it is another matter. I didn't expect him to beat Selby in the final because I thought Selby would be going to go to the end in just over two days and he just kept playing. It's amazing that he can do all this. And he also participated in another competition, and the young man from China (Si Jia Hui) also reached that semi-final. They attack most of the time and defend very little, and I think it's a great game that everybody wants to see. ”