Ronnie O’Sullivan’s section of the Saudi Arabia Masters draw was significantly changed on Saturday as Luca Brecel made a surprise late withdrawal.
It was confirmed that the Belgian Bullet is out of the event due to ‘medical reasons’ although the nature of the issue has not been revealed.
In some ways it is not a huge surprise that the 2023 world champion is not playing as he has already opted out of playing in every match he was scheduled for this season – at the Wuhan Open, British Open and Championship League.
However, with huge money and ranking points on the line in Jeddah, it is not a tournament that any player would miss without good reason.
The winner on Saturday will walk away with £500,000, the same top prize as the World Championship, while the runner-up claims £200,000.
Brecel was due to enter at the third round stage of the tiered draw, which would have guaranteed him £7,000 without potting a ball.
The 30-year-old has offered little update, other than posting a picture of a coffee on Instagram on Sunday morning.
Brecel’s withdrawal means Sanderson Lam gets a bye to the fourth round, which is excellent news for the Yorkshireman.
Lam will play either Joe O’Connor or Wang Yuchen in the fourth round with the winner facing O’Sullivan in the last 32 in Jeddah.
The prospect of a Brecel vs O’Sullivan clash in the last 32 was exciting, although the Bullet would have had work to do to reach that stage, with the in-form O’Connor in that section of the draw.
O’Sullivan’s opener in Saudi Arabia will be just his third match of the season after losing to eventual champion Kyren Wilson at the Shanghai Masters last week.
The Rocket beat Barry Hawkins 6-5 before a 6-3 loss to the Warrior, but Stephen Hendry liked what he saw from his fellow seven-time world champion in Shanghai.
‘I’ll be interested to see how Ronnie plays because I thought he looked quite good in Shanghai,’ Hendry said on the Snooker Club podcast. ‘He lost to Kyren but Kyren played incredible in the last three or four frames.
‘Ronnie in his first match looked, if it’s possible, playing even quicker than normal. I thought he looked pretty good.’
It was a quiet and underwhelming season for O’Sullivan last time round, skipping a number of events and not picking up any silverware.
Former world champion Ken Doherty is not alone in hoping to see the Rocket play more this campaign and hopefully get back to somewhere near his best.
‘Ronnie is such an enigma, you don’t know what Ronnie is going to turn up or how interested he’s going to be this season,’ said Doherty. ‘He didn’t seem interested last season and his head wasn’t really in it for most parts of it.
‘But maybe he’ll have a bit more determination. He loves the big events, he loves the big money and Jeddah will certainly be on his list.
‘I’d love to see him come back, he still has an awful lot to offer the game, still one of the best players in the world when he’s playing and brings great excitement to the game.’
O’Sullivan will be in action on Tuesday evening in Jeddah against O’Connor,Wang or Lam.