Northern Ireland Open: Ronnie O’Sullivan withdraws from another tournament ahead of Monday opener v Long Zehuang

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The 2024 Northern Ireland Open has lost one of its big attractions with Ronnie O'Sullivan opting to withdraw from the event at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. O'Sullivan has cut a frustrated figure on occasions this season, and withdrew from the British Open and Wuhan Open earlier in the campaign. He is scheduled to play in the International Championship.

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Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from the Northern Ireland Open.

The seven-time world champion has had an indifferent start to the 2024/25 campaign, reaching the semi-finals of the Xi’an Grand Prix and Shanghai Masters, but losing in the first round of the English Open and withdrawing from the British Open and Wuhan Open.

After slipping to defeat to He Guoqiang at the English Open, O’Sullivan was critical of his performance - saying he was “useless”.

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"I've been missing balls for the last four or five years and every now and then I'll miss a few less, maybe, and get a couple of results," O’Sullivan said.

"Even in tournaments I've won, people have missed mad opportunities to beat me. I can't get away from it, poor, but there's nothing I can do about it."

O’Sullivan said later in the autumn that he was still committed to competing hard, but would be selective in the tournaments he would play in.

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And he has now elected to withdraw from the Northern Ireland Open. He had been scheduled to face Long Zehuang on Monday.

Next on the WST roster is the International Championship in Nanjing, China, at the start of November. O’Sullivan is slated to face Mink Nutcharut in the event.

Following the trip to China, the first Triple Crown event of the season, the UK Championship, looms on the horizon. O’Sullivan won the event for the eighth time last year.

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