World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan has threatened to skip snooker's high-profile tournaments next year - including the World Championship.
The five-time world champion says he'll sit out all three of the 'Triple Crown' events. the Masters, UK Championship and World Championship, due to his dissatisfaction with media commitments.
"I only want to play a few games to keep a bit of interest. Maybe three or four tournaments a year - low-key ones, where there is no media," he told The Telegraph.
"So I will miss the Masters, the World Championship and the UK. I don't even want to play in the World Championship - all the press and media they want you to do, I'm not here for that.
"I've won it five times. It ain't worth the blood, sweat and tears to me now. That tournament? Probably not for me any more."
The 43-year-old recently regained the number one ranking and moved onto 1000 century breaks for his career but suffered a shock defeat to qualifier James Cahill in the opening-round at the Crucible and has frequently clashed with snooker's governing body about the increased media responsibilities on players.
At this season's Players Championship the 19-time triple crown tournaments winner affected an Australian accent during interviews at the event.
“It’s for me to know and you to find out, mate!”
Well, this is surreal 😁
Why does @ronnieo147 go ‘all Aussie’ after reaching the second round of @WorldSnooker’s Players Championship @PrestGuildHall pic.twitter.com/25mPNNfOTR
— BBC Lancashire Sport (@BBCLancsSport) March 4, 2019
O'Sullivan, who has frequently threatened to retire from the game throughout his career, says his relationship with World Snooker is now 'a broken marriage' and that he only wants to play three or four tournaments in 2020.
"It's like a broken marriage. They don't like me, I don't really like them. We are living under the same roof, just trying to be nice and tolerate each other.
"But if they want to overstep the mark and make my life too unhappy, I'm off. You are going to lose out because I am not going to come to your tournaments. I'm going to lose out because, really, I want to play."
