Ronnie O'Sullivan breaks silence on Masters withdrawal as snooker GOAT makes worrying admission

Snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan has spoken out after his shock withdrawal from The Masters and made a worrying admission about the sport.

On Friday, O'Sullivan released a statement confirming that he had pulled out of The Masters, just two days before his scheduled opening match against John Higgins.

The Englishman was expected to extend his record in the tournament to nine wins, but decided to withdraw over medical grounds.

And now, O'Sullivan has finally spoken out to confirm what really caused him to pull out of the tournament.

Just one day before he announced he wouldn't be playing at The Masters, O'Sullivan smashed his cue on the table several times during his 2025 BetVictor Championship League Snooker match against Robert Milkins.

Reports after the match claimed that the 49-year-old then threw his snooker cue in the bin at the players' lounge, before calling it quits on his other matches in the competition.

While speaking with Eurosport, the snooker legend confirmed that all of this was true, as he explained what caused him to react in that way and how it impacted his decision to withdraw from The Masters.

"Yeah, it was a nightmare decision to make. You know, if you'd have asked me Sunday was I ready to play," he confessed.

"I probably would have been OK to play, but it's such a massive tournament. I've obviously been on this three-week trip away playing and I just think I exhausted myself.

Ronnie O'Sullivan pulled out of the defence of his Masters title on medical grounds. (Image: Getty)

"[There was] a lot of pressure while I was away and I just think the build-up of all that kind of just got a bit too much really.

"I mean, I lost the plot on Thursday, snapped my cue, so that's unplayable. I knew that at that moment in time, the right decision was to not play.

"And it’s such a big tournament, I thought whoever was going to come in should have at least had a couple of days’ notice."

O'Sullivan was replaced by Australian Neil Robertson, who made the most of his late call-up as he came back from being 5-1 to beat Higgins in a sensational match at Alexandra Palace.