Will Ronnie O'Sullivan play at the UK Championship 2023?
The latest updates on whether Ronnie O'Sullivan will feature at the UK Championship this week
Ronnie O'Sullivan has chiselled his name among the best snooker players of all time without a doubt, and has proven his talent over and over again throughout a marvellous career.
The Rocket may even be one of Britain's finest sporting heroes across the board, with seven world titles to his name since turning pro in 1992.
O'Sullivan's most recent world triumph came in 2022, a clear sign that he still boasts the magic that has taken him this far into his career, though he has cast doubt over his future in the sport.
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The 47-year-old has withdrawn from a string of tournaments in the 2023/24 campaign so far and questions have been raised about whether he will feature at the UK Championship, which starts on Saturday 25th November.
RadioTimes.com rounds up the latest updates – including quotes from The Rocket himself – as to his current status on the World Snooker Tour ahead of the UK Championship.
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Will Ronnie O'Sullivan play at the UK Championship 2023?
As of 22nd November, Ronnie O'Sullivan is set to play at the UK Championship 2023.
He has been included among the top 16 seeds who will gain automatic qualification into the tournament without the requirement to fight through any qualification rounds.
However, this does not guarantee O'Sullivan will line up at the table for the big occasion in York. We will update this page should O'Sullivan decide to withdraw from proceedings.
Why has Ronnie O'Sullivan missed tournaments in 2023?
O'Sullivan has missed several tournaments through "medical reasons" with reports of struggles with an elbow issue. He also pulled out of the Champion of Champions event in November due to "mentally feeling a bit drained and stressed".
It should come as no great surprise that O'Sullivan has opted out of a number of tournaments in 2023, as he has already spoken about his plan to sit out of UK tournaments.
In an interview with talkSPORT conducted in May 2023, he said: "I've gone the other way now, I'm going to travel and play all the overseas tournaments and miss all the UK tournaments.
"I can't do it all. Before I used to say, 'I won't travel, I'll stay in the UK', which was sweet, but now I think at this stage of my career, obviously Asia's a big place to play, bigger tournaments, so I'll do them and miss the UK ones.
"If I don't do well in the Asian ones then I'll get home early and then I don't mind hopping on a plane and going to Scotland or Belfast but, if I do well, I want to have a week at home, chill out with the dogs and then get back on a plane and go back to India or wherever."
In the press build-up to an Amazon Prime Video documentary about his successes, trials and tribulations, The Edge of Everything, O'Sullivan offered a stark warning to snooker officials about his desire to play more matches abroad, suggesting he could quit the sport if he is not allowed to do so.
Earlier in the season, five elite players, including world champion Luca Brecel, were caught up in a major row after declaring intentions to swerve a World Snooker Tour event for an exhibition tournament in Macau. The Macau competition was eventually put on ice, but tensions remain.
He told the BBC: "If I can't go and do what I need to do, which is play a lot in China, I won't ever play again. So, we're at a kind of crossroads now.
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"If that gets to the point where I'm not able to do that, I'm not allowed to do that, I probably won't play. I'll probably go and play Chinese 8-Ball because I still want to play snooker, I still want a cue in my hand.
"There's just not enough here in the UK for me to justify the effort that I put in.
"If someone's going to respect me and value me more, why would I not go there? It's like being in an unhealthy relationship with someone, why would you be in that?
"I'd love to be able to just keep playing snooker for the next five, six, seven, eight years, but if I'm going to be forced into a situation where that's not possible, then I'm not going to just accept whatever 132 players do, which is to go and play tournament after tournament, week in, week out."
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