Ronnie O’Sullivan is planning to skip UK tournaments to concentrate on playing in Asia.
The seven-time world champion has swung between preferring to play at home and abroad and, in an interview on talkSPORT to promote his new autobiography, Unbreakable, O’Sullivan said he is now looking to travel more.
“I’ve gone the other way now, I’m going to travel and play all the overseas tournaments and miss all the UK tournaments,” he said - although it's unlikely he will be missing the UK Championship or the Masters as they do not follow the Asian-based events.
“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 than 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.”
O’Sullivan fell short in his bid to win an eighth world title, losing in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Luca Brecel last month.
He praised the Belgian, saying: “I thought Luca was unbelievable. You talk about talent – (in football) you look at someone who does things with the ball and you think, ‘How does he do that?’ And Luca is that player.
“I know how he does it but trying to do it is another thing. I didn’t think he’d beat (Mark) Selby in the final because I thought over two days Selby would get into him but he just kept playing his game.
“It was phenomenal. He made that tournament, and the young Chinese guy (Si Jiahui) in the semi-final. Just pot, pot, pot, scoring, clearing up in one visit, and that’s what everybody wants to see.”
Back together
O'Sullivan has also revealed he's getting his personal life 'back on track' after reunited with his ex Laila Rouass.
The Rocket has been with the Holby City actress for a decade, although they briefly split last year.
“It’s good,” he says of their relationship, smiling. “She’s great. I love her. She’s great company and I love being around her.
“She’s very supportive. I have to behave myself. I know when to go, ‘Alright, you’re in charge’. But she’s also really good at going, ‘Listen, you’ve got a busy life, you’ve got a lot to do, just get on with it’.
“Now it feels a lot better – everyone’s just in a better place. I just want to see her and her daughter happy, and her family, who are like my family, happy.”
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