The world’s top-ranked snooker player, Ronnie O’Sullivan, is headed to Macao later this month for the 2023 Macau Snooker Masters – kicking off on Christmas day.
“I’m looking forward to Christmas in Macao,” he told British media.
The Briton has drawn ire from the World Snooker Tour (WST) – whose tournaments he is contractually obliged to play in – by backing players’ decisions to compete in non-tour games that are significantly more lucrative. These include the Macau Snooker Masters and Hong Kong Masters (which O’Sullivan won last year), as well as exhibition games.
“I get paid so much more for going to do [those] and it’s really hard for me to turn them down,” the 48-year-old, seven-time world champion has said. “I’ve got to think of my family and all of that sort of stuff.”
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Recently, the BBC reported that Ronnie O’Sullivan threatened to quit the WST after its governing body told five top snooker players they would face disciplinary action for opting to play in Macao instead of the WST’s Northern Ireland Open.
The two tournaments’ dates overlapped, and players would rather go to the SAR – where they could earn more money. But doing so would be in breach of their WST contracts.
While there are no Macao-based tournaments in the WST, the tour does include the Shanghai Masters and the Wuhan Open – along with several other mainland events.
The Macau Snooker Masters are slated to take place at Wynn Palace’s Grand Theatre, between 25 and 29 December. The tournament has a £150,000 (1.53 million patacas) prize pool.
