Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘doesn’t care’ about performances anymore – but reveals he’ll give ‘300 per cent in Saudi Arabia’
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has vowed to give “300 per cent” at the Saudi snooker tournaments – but says he doesn’t care about his performance.
The Riyadh Season World Masters, a non-ranking tournament featuring the world’s top eight players, is set to get underway in early March.
The World Snooker Tour has announced its first TV event in Saudi Arabia.
And the three-day event will feature a new “golden ball” which could increase the maximum break to an unprecedented 167.
With a prize pot of £800,000 at stake, O’Sullivan confessed he, “does not really care about his performances anymore to be honest”.
Currently in action at the Players Championship in Telford, he changed his tune to Sportsboom when talking about his plan for Saudi.
The seven-time world champion said: “When I’m out in Saudi, I’ll be giving it 300 per cent.”
Later this year a ranking event, the Saudi Arabia Masters, will take place with a prize fund of £2million – making it the richest event in the sport after the World Championship.
But the Rocket has on many occasions told fans that his love for the game is dying.
And he has recently pulled out of several tournaments including the Welsh Open last week due to his health and well-being.
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Meanwhile, O’Sullivan has revealed he is “on strike” from 147 breaks in snooker until the prize money is increased.
The snooker star has hit 15 maximums during his sensational career.
O’Sullivan was asked about his record of smashing 147s in the sport.
The 48-year-old insisted that he could probably hit a few more before he retires.
He said: “I reckon another five or six, but I went on strike a long time ago.”
When asked if he would stay on strike, O’Sullivan insisted that he would until snooker chiefs “start bumping up the prize money“.
It was put to him that if the reward was £147,000, would he start going for 147s again?
O’Sullivan quickly answered: “Yeah”.