When a player from snooker withdraws from the British Open, he may lose his top spot in the world rankings.
It is generally anticipated that world number one snooker player “Rocket” Ronnie O’Sullivan will lose his ranking after withdrawing from the British Open citing “medical reasons.”
This week, Ronnie O’Sullivan’s 17-month reign as the world snooker champion could potentially come to an end after he withdrew from the British Open.
Jimmy Robertson and O’Sullivan were supposed to compete in the first round on Monday night at The Centaur auditorium at the Racecourse. However, O’Sullivan withdrew, citing “medical reasons” as his excuse.
He will now have to sit back and watch the proceedings at the Cheltenham event, which could put an end to his nearly 18-month-long reign as the top dog.
The amateur Steven Hallworth has taken the seven-time world champion’s place in the competition. Due to O’Sullivan’s withdrawal, Luca Brecel, 28, now has a legitimate chance to take the top spot in the world rankings for the first time.
In the past, Brecel has defeated O’Sullivan on his way to taking home his first Crucible title in May. The first challenge to the Belgian’s ascent to the top is a held-over qualifier against Ding Junhui of China.
If Brecel wins that and then defeats Liu Hongyu, who is also from China, he will have accumulated enough prize money to move up from second to first place. Right now, the difference is just £5,000. Mark Allen of Northern Ireland is ranked third in the world going into the event and has a chance to win as well, but he will need to perform exceptionally well on Sunday night in the third ranking event of the season.
Over the course of his remarkable career, O’Sullivan has held the top spot in the world rankings five times. Since its most recent release in April 2022, “The Rocket” has not let up.
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