Ronnie O’Sullivan to take break from snooker after becoming oldest ever Masters champion with epic Ally Pally win

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN is planning to take “two months off now” as he targets the exhibition circuit before the Crucible.

Even though he is 48 years old, the ageless O’Sullivan remains the man to beat in snooker as he added the Masters crown to last month’s UK Championship success.

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Ronnie O’Sullivan has announced he will take a break from Snooker[/caption]

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The Rocket beat Ali Carter 10-7 at Ally Pally on Sunday[/caption]

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He admitted he felt a bit ‘played-out’[/caption]

This season, the Rocket has won two of the three Triple Crown tournaments and he would complete the £1milllion Ronnie Slam should he lift a record eighth World title in May.

There is no time to celebrate after beating Ali Carter 10-7 at Ally Pally on Sunday night as he is due to face China cueist Pang Junxu on Tuesday evening in Leicester in the last 32 of the World Grand Prix.

Snooker bosses and their commercial team would love it if he played in every event without fail before heading up the M1 to Sheffield but the world No.1 jumps to his own beat.

Though he had felt jetlagged from playing a New Year friendly in Tibet, O’Sullivan swept all before him in North London and now fancies a much-needed break.

After the conclusion of the World Grand Prix, there is the prospect he may pull out of the German Masters, Welsh Open, Players Championship, World Mixed Doubles and Tour Championship.

He is particularly unhappy that he has been drawn to play Liam Graham in Llandudno next month following the Scotsman’s angry outburst that he missed out on facing the Greatest Of All Time at the Scottish Open in Edinburgh.

There is a chance O’Sullivan may take part in the lucrative World Open in Yushan in March as he loves his appearances on Chinese soil.

Speaking on Eurosport, O’Sullivan said: “I’m a bit played-out, to be honest with you.

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“I had such a strong push September-October-November December, I really went hard at every tournament.

“I look at the first four months as the main part of my season. I put everything into that and I did better than I thought I would do.

“Subconsciously you think, I was quite content with that. It’s hard to keep motivating yourself. It really is. This game is too hard.

“I’m going to take two months off now. I’ll probably just play next week because it’s 32 players. I’ve earned my way to get in that tournament.

“But I’ll just swerve all the other tournaments now. I feel like I want a break.

“I’m looking forward to getting on the exhibition circuit, start playing more exhibitions, I enjoy them, they’re a bit of fun.

“Too much intense snooker for me is not good. I need to back off and consolidate and get some fun in the game so the exhibitions will be good.

“I’ve got a busy March, May, June, July so I don’t want to be fatigued going into that.

“I’ve had a great season, even if I’d just won the Shanghai Masters I’ve had a great season. I took the UK and nicked this one as well so I’ve had an amazing season.”

Whatever diary he decides to follow, all roads led to the Crucible in April and the pressure will be there and build with every round.

Can O’Sullivan break free of the tally he shares with Stephen Hendry and claim a historic No.8 crown?

The Essex cueman said: “I always have a good idea around February and March whether my game’s in good enough shape to win the Worlds.

“At the moment I’d probably say it’s not good enough to feel confident of winning it.

“I could still win it. But I’d like to go there with a bit of confidence with my game.

“Longer sessions you have to learn to cruise and win most of your games in second gear, but at the moment I’m having to squeeze everything out just to get a result.

“Which is hard, but I’m a competitor so I’ll keep fighting.”

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O’Sullivan has said he still aims to win a historic eighth crown at the Crucible[/caption]