Mark Selby hopes to see Ronnie O’Sullivan at the World Championship next week, but says his mental health is much more important than any game of snooker.
The Rocket is yet to confirm whether he will play at the Crucible or not, having withdrawn from a string of events this year.
The 49-year-old has not played competitively since the Championship League in January when, in his own words, he ‘lost the plot’ and snapped his cue in frustration.
O’Sullivan withdrew from the Masters immediately after that incident in Leicester and has not played since, with doubts remaining over whether he will compete in Sheffield.
Selby was at the Championship League when O’Sullivan was clearly suffering and said that there was obviously something bothering his old rival at the behind-closed-doors event.
The 41-year-old has been open about his own mental health struggles, battling anxiety and depression, and spoke to O’Sullivan having recognised that something was wrong.
‘I was at the Championship League when Ronnie was there and I spoke to him afterwards,’ said Selby. ‘I could see that he wasn’t right. Knowing how I was you can sort of see it in people now and pick it up.
‘Afterwards I just said to him, “I just hope you’re ok, that’s the most important thing.” Snooker is a game, at the end of the day, people’s mental health and wellbeing is worth more than just a game of snooker.’
A decision on whether the Rocket will land at the Crucible is expected imminently, with the tournament starting on Saturday morning.
Selby wants O’Sullivan to make the right decision for himself, but would like to see the seven-time champion compete as the sport’s biggest name obviously adds a lot to its greatest event.
‘I’m sure I’m one of many who hopes he plays in the World Championship because I think it will be a better tournament for it,’ said Selby.
‘Obviously it’s got big exposure anyway but a tournament with Ronnie in is obviously a better tournament than one without him, for me.’
O’Sullivan and Selby had an eye-opening conversation during the Masters, after the former’s Championship League exit, as the two former world champions chatted about their issues live on Eurosport.
The Rocket suggested that mental health struggles are rife in snooker, saying: ‘If he [Selby] is struggling mentally and I struggle mentally and John Higgins struggles mentally then the other 124 are a million per cent struggling mentally.’
While the two men are dealing with different difficulties, as issues don’t necessarily stem from snooker, they have common ground and it was enlightening to hear them talk openly about it.
‘There’ll probably be some bits where my doctor and whoever he speaks to will agree that we both need to do similar things,’ Selby said.
‘Everyone’s mental health situation is different. But it all comes down to one thing at the end of the day, there’s certain things you need to do to keep it at bay.
‘It’s never going to go away and I know that, but at the moment I’m doing good.’
Selby is not alone among the top players in wanting O’Sullivan to return this month, with Mark Williams saying events are simply not the same without him.
‘All the tournaments that anyone is winning, they’re brilliant and you’ve done well to win it, but when he’s in a tournament it’s different class,’ Williams told Metro.
‘You get more crowd in. There’s more buzz. The sponsors are happy. All the other players are fantastic but the crowd only want to come and see him, there’s no one else.
‘He packs it out whether it’s the first round or the final and he’s the only one that can do it. For me and for the game I look forward to when he’s back playing, it will be fantastic.’