Ronnie O’Sullivan will not be at the British Open next week as he continues to play a very light schedule this season.
The Rocket has played in just two tournaments so far this campaign, the Shanghai Masters and the Saudi Arabia Masters.
The 49-year-old looked pretty good in both, losing to Kyren Wilson in the Shanghai quarter-finals and only losing out 10-9 in the final in Jeddah to Neil Robertson.
That epic clash with the Aussie came after making two 147s in his semi-final victory over Chris Wakelin, which saw him voted WPBSA Player of the Month by his fellow players for August.
O’Sullivan has not been seen since, though, not competing in the English Open this week in Brentwood and now confirming that he will not be playing next week at the British Open in Cheltenham.
World Snooker Tour confirmed on Tuesday morning that the Rocket would not take on Sanderson Lam in the opening round on Monday, citing medical reasons, with Daniel Womersley taking the seven-time world champion’s place in the draw.
Skipping the British means O’Sullivan will not play at all in September, so when will we see him again?
What’s next for the Rocket?
O’Sullivan has moved to Dubai and appears to have trimmed down his UK appearances as a result.
Next month is the Xi’an Grand Prix in China (October 7-13), which the Rocket is expected to play in, with his opening game against Iulian Boiko.
The Northern Ireland Open follows, but O’Sullivan is not competing in Belfast, then the International Championship in China from November 2-9 will likely see the Rocket land again.
The UK Championship in York from November 29 – December 7 is also likely to feature O’Sullivan, but that will almost certainly be his final ranking event of 2025, with the Shoot Out and Scottish Open later in December.
This schedule would be very similar to last season, when he played in Xi’an Grand Prix, International Championship and UK Championship in the first half of the campaign.
While it is yet to be confirmed on the World Snooker Tour calendar, the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship will also be held and O’Sullivan will play in that invitational event featuring the golden ball.
Rankings are no issue for O’Sullivan
He might not be playing a great deal, but his performances when he does compete mean that qualification for events is no problem.
The Rocket is number four in the world rankings and, thanks to the £200,000 he won in Saudi Arabia as runner-up, is number two on the one-year ranking list.
This means he will have no issue qualifying for the World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship later in the campaign.
At the start of the season there had been a chance that O’Sullivan could slip out of the top 16 by the time the World Championship comes around, but his significant financial success in Saudi has put that concern to bed.
He will also be comfortably in the top 16 for the Masters in January, if he chooses to play at Alexandra Palace, which he decided not to last season.
So it is not like O’Sullivan has packed his cue away for good, he is still playing in events, but focussing on peaking at the right times for the biggest tournaments that boast the most substantial prize funds.