Snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from the Champion of Champions with exhaustion.

The Rocket, a four-time winner and defending champion of the prestigious big-money invitational event, was due to kick of his title-defence against Chinese potter Zhang Anda in Bolton on Wednesday. But the world No 1 revealed on X: “I just wanted to let you know I’m unfortunately withdrawing from the Champion of Champions event tomorrow. Mentally I feel drained and stressed and I want to look after my mental health and my body. Sorry to all the fans, but I’ll be back stronger.”

Seven-time snooker world champion O’Sullivan, arguably the sport’s greatest player, has regularly been travelling to China for tournaments and exhibitions this season. Scheduling gripes have been at the forefront of his recent criticisms of the snooker calendar. And after reaching the International Championship semi-finals on Saturday, it has proved too much of mad dash back to the UK from Tianjin for this week’s event, which offers £150,000 to winner. "I can’t do backwards and forwards, tournament after tournament,” O’Sullivan admitted.

“You have to choose your battles. There is a lot of travelling involved. My mental health is very, very important to me. My doctor is always monitoring me. I don’t want to get burned out. I don’t want to end up cracking up with mental exhaustion or mental stress.
I have to be very careful with picking and choosing my events now.”

The sport’s box-office star is currently embroiled in disciplinary proceedings with the WPBSA – the sport’s governing body - after a scathing tirade on their running of the game. Tensions boiled over in a player-power dispute over the ability to enjoy bumper sideline paydays from lucrative exhibitions. Fellow professional Mark Allen urged the top players to boycott to force change to the “restrictive” players’ contracts. O’Sullivan was due to meet him in the semi-finals if he won his two group matches in Bolton and he issued a public apology for his comments.

But the Crucible king has yet to back down and also pulled out of the Northern Ireland Open last month as his frustrations with the WPBSA. Chinese superstar Ding Junhui is in line to replace O’Sullivan in the draw, while worried fans rallied around the Rocket after his social media announcement.

One emotional fan said on X: “Devastated, love you champ.” Another reflected: “Put yourself first and do what’s best for you and come back stronger.” And an avid follower said: “Your mental health and well-being comes first.”