Ronnie O’Sullivan, the reigning world champion and world number one snooker player, has pulled out of the WST Classic due to an elbow injury. The 47-year-old was scheduled to play David Grace in the second round of the new ranking event in Leicester on Sunday evening, but announced his withdrawal on Twitter.
“Really disappointed but have had to pull out because of an elbow injury and hope to be back asap,” he wrote.
O’Sullivan had beaten Mohamed Ibrahim 4-2 in the first round on Friday, making two century breaks despite playing through pain. He had also suffered from elbow discomfort during last week’s Six Red Championship in Thailand, where he lost 6-2 to Ding Junhui in the last 16.
The injury scare comes less than a month before O’Sullivan is due to defend his World Championship title at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, where he is aiming for a record-breaking eighth crown. He won his seventh title last year by defeating Kyren Wilson 18-8 in the final.
As a result of his withdrawal from the WST Classic, O’Sullivan will miss out on the Tour Championship, which features the top eight players on the one-year ranking list competing for a £150,000 top prize in Hull from March 27 to April 2. He is currently ninth on that list and needed to reach at least the semi-finals of the WST Classic to qualify.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has a history of elbow problems and has previously withdrawn from tournaments due to tennis elbow. He said last year that it was “a time-healing process” and that he needed to rest it. He bounced back from his injury lay-off by winning the Hong Kong Masters in October, beating Marco Fu 6-4 in the final.
Ronnie O’Sullivan Records
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s fans will be hoping that he can recover quickly and be ready for his World Championship defence next month. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest snooker players of all time and holds several records, including most ranking titles (38), most Triple Crown titles (21) and most maximum breaks (15).