SNOOKER star Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed he is likely to take another six-month tour sabbatical and is aiming to make a return for the Champion of Champions event in Coventry.
The five-time World Champion, who lost to Mark Selby in this year’s World Championship final last month, is keeping himself fit and ready for the bigger events which means he is likely to miss much of the European Tour and PTC events in the UK and across Europe.
And he has targeted a return to action in November when the world’s elite players come to Coventry for the second installment of the hugely popular Champion of Champions event.
“I think the Champion of Champions will be my first proper tournament of the season, and obviously that is at the beginning of November,” O’Sullivan told Inside Snooker.
“It was a good event in its first year with all the winners of the titles, and even though Ding Junhui won a few this time round it will be a decent line-up again.
“I did play a few of the European Tour events last season, stepping it up a bit on the one before when I got away with it a bit at the Crucible.
“But I’m not sure I’m going to be doing as many of those again and also I am unlikely to be doing too much of the main tournaments requiring a lot of long-haul travel.
“There are three big events from November to January, and I certainly plan to play in those.”
The UK Championships begins just weeks after the Champion of Champions event and O’Sullivan will also be looking to defend his Masters title at the beginning of January.
It is not the first time O’Sullivan has taken a break from the sport having played just one match during the 2012/13 campaign before lifting the world title at the end of the season.
