Ronnie O'Sullivan: 'Nightmare' decision to pull out of Masters after Rockets 'lost their way'

Ronnie O'Sullivan says he made the “nightmare” decision to withdraw from the Masters due to health reasons after “losing his mind” last Thursday.

The defending champion had been planning to pursue a record ninth title and was scheduled to face John Higgins in the World Cup opening ceremony at Alexandra Palace on Sunday.

However, the 49-year-old opted not to take part in the Top 16 Players Invitational due to fatigue and pressure during Leicester City's 3-2 Champions League loss to Robert Milkins.

“Rocket” looked visibly frustrated as he broke his club, threw it in the trash and bowed out of the final group game later in the day.

On Friday, news broke that he would also miss the Masters and be replaced by Neil Robertson.

“It really was a nightmare decision,” O'Sullivan told Eurosport.

“If you ask me on Sunday if I'm ready to play, I'll probably be fine. It's such a big game.”

O'Sullivan has joined several of his elite players in lucrative exhibition matches in the Far East in recent weeks.

At the end of December, he took part in the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in Saudi Arabia.

“I've obviously been on the road for three weeks and I think I'm exhausted,” O'Sullivan said.

“It was a lot of pressure when I was away, the build-up of all these things was too much. I lost the plot on Thursday and broke my club, so that was unplayable, so I knew at that moment , the correct decision was not to participate in the competition.

“It's such a big game that I feel like whoever's going to take part should at least have a few days' notice.”

Since turning professional in 1992, O'Sullivan has won 41 ranking events and seven world titles during a storied career, culminating in his first Masters title in 1995 at the age of 19.

His success 12 months ago at the age of 48 means he holds the record as the oldest and youngest winner in the Triple Crown event's history.

He also decided to sit out the 2020 Masters.

O'Sullivan confirmed he is now “all OK” and will need to adapt to different clubs as he prepares to return to the sport after destroying his last one.

“It was in the bins, one of the wheelie bins, but my partner said we couldn't leave it here so he took it out and took it with him,” O'Sullivan said.

“I have some other clubs that I can start practicing on because I have some matches coming up. I'm going to keep playing, so I need to get used to the clubs now.”