Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby put rivalry to one side to unite in powerful discussion over mental health in snooker

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby discussed what could be done to help those in snooker who are "suffering in silence" as they candidly opened up on mental health in the game.

Last week, O'Sullivan decided to withdraw from this month's Masters on medical grounds, just two days before his scheduled opener against John Higgins.

The 49-year-old, who has been open about his mental health struggles in the past, has since appeared at the tournament as a pundit for Eurosport.

And on Monday, he joined Alan McManus and Mark Selby in the studio after the latter recorded a convincing 6-1 victory over Ali Carter in the first round.

Explaining his decision to pull out of the Masters, O'Sullivan said: "It was a nightmare decision really to make, if you’d have asked me Sunday if I was ready to play I’d probably have been ok to play. But it’s such a massive tournament.

"I’d been on a three-week trip away playing and I just think I exhausted myself, a lot of pressure while I was away. The build-up of all that just got a bit too much really."

He added: "I lost the plot on Thursday, snapped my cue, so that’s unplayable, so I knew at that moment in time the right decision was to not play and such a big tournament that I thought whoever was to come in should have had at least a couple of days notice."

In the studio, O’Sullivan also called for the World Snooker Tour to hire a full-time mental health professional to provide support to players during tournaments.

"I think World Snooker should have somebody. In football, they have masseuses, people sorting out injuries," O'Sullivan said.

"I think snooker should have someone at the tournament employed as like if someone is struggling, they've come off the table, 'do you need 10 minutes with someone?'

"I'm not saying everyone will go in there but I just think a lot of players suffer in silence basically. I can tell, just look at them and they're struggling. They should have someone to go and talk to."

O'Sullivan added: "He's [Mark Selby] struggled mentally and I struggle mentally and John Higgins struggles mentally. The other 124 are a million per cent struggling mentally but you're not allowed: 'Oh, what's the matter? You're a snooker player, you're getting paid this and that'.

"Well, it's not about the money. It's just pride of performance. You want to put a show on for the crowd, you want to put a show on for yourself, you want to play well and when you don't it can really drive you crazy."

Much like O'Sullivan, Selby has been open about his mental health, having been diagnosed with anxiety and depression.

And in the chat alongside O'Sullivan and Alan McManus, the 41-year-old agreed with his fellow player.

Selby said: "There'll be a lot of players who are suffering who don't want to speak out or are scared to speak out. But if they've got someone like that where they can go off in the corner and speak to them one-on-one, they'd be more comfortable doing that."

Jason Ferguson, who is the chairman of World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), insisted there are already measures in place to help any players who are struggling after praising the panel.

"I thought the players [O'Sullivan and Mark Selby] spoke very, very well," Ferguson said. "This is a very lonely sport, an individual sport of course, and you never know what people are going through.

"It’s not just about us on the table, sometimes it’s about what’s going on off the table and these players are spending a lot of time away from home.

"There are many challenges out there, and it's something we take very, very seriously." He added.

"Through the WPBSA we have a large number of player services and one of those is confidential hotlines, there is player support. We’ve actually broken the governing body up and created what we call ‘the athletes' commission’.

"It’s called ‘WPBSA Players’ and it’s chaired by Shaun Murphy - a player - it’s a player's body, made up of players to support players.

"There are finances provided to that body to ensure that specialist services can be employed to provide services to the players."