Snooker Betting & Why Ronnie O’Sullivan Withdraws from the British Open.
The six-time snooker world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan refused to participate in the renewed British Open snooker tournament. The day before, a World Snooker Tour press release was published about the upcoming new-old British Open event, which was included in the main tour calendar for the first time since 2004. Among the stars who entered the competition, in addition to Trump, Selby, Higgins and many others, was also Ronnie O'Sullivan. However, almost immediately after publication, the athlete announced that he will not participate in the tournament.
This news led many snooker lovers to bewilderment: what could have prompted the snooker star Ronnie O'Sullivan to change his decision? Let’s start with the fact, that there is no official reason for the refusal provided in the article on the World Snooker Tour official website, although often in such cases they write about personal circumstances. Let’s take a look at the possible reasons!
Theory 1: Some fans suggested that the problem might be in the format of the British Open. As you know, the grid will consist of 128 players and after each round there will be held an additional draw, which makes the tournament scenario completely unpredictable. Moreover, all matches up to the 1/8 finals will be played up to 3 victories. Such a lottery could hardly be of interest to Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Theory 2: His absence in Leicester’s British Open tournament shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. He repeatedly missed much more significant events in his career, for example, The Masters and the British Championship.
Theory 3: There is another opinion that’s becoming more and more popular. On Tuesday, July 20, when the six-time world champion participated in the Championship League tournament, he had an unpleasant episode with referee Rob Spencer. During his meeting with Saqib Nasir, the Rocket hit the blue, and the judge declared it to be a foul, because he saw a push shot in that moment. The following dialogue between Ronnie and the referee happened after this:
R. O'Sullivan: "What?"
R. Spencer: "This is a push, Ronnie."
R. O'Sullivan: "Are you kidding?"
R. Spencer: "No, it was a push."
After some time, the discussion continued.
R. O'Sullivan: "I am the most honest snooker player, I never try to deceive."
R. Spencer: "I can only talk about what I see."
Interestingly, at this time the match was on British television and was commented by Tom Ford. The commenter noted that he was not sure that there was a foul in that situation: "There was no push. If Ronnie did make it, then the beat would go straight to the corner lens."
Some Rocket fans believe that such a conflict with the referee could greatly upset and/or anger O'Sullivan, which can be a reason he decided to withdraw from the upcoming British Open on emotions. Another strange thing is that for some reason, following the results of the game day, an interview with Ronnie O'Sullivan wasn’t published, which was quite unexpected.
We will not know whether there is truth in any of these theories. Anyway, Ronnie won't be in Leicester for the British Open. He will be replaced by James Cahill in the British Open grid
But you can still enjoy the British Open 2021 that will be held from August 16 to 22. Find the odds comparison for the Snooker British Open 2021 here.
