Snooker star Ronnie O'Sullivan admits regret and reveals schedule for break from sport - 'I'm not bothered'
WATCH NOW: Ronnie O'Sullivan wins his eighth Masters title
Snooker great Ronnie O'Sullivan admits he should have avoided the World Grand Prix this week.
The 48-year-old was back in action in Leicester just two days after his record-extending triumph at the Masters.
O'Sullivan beat Ali Carter 10-7 in Sunday's final at Alexandra Palace to land his eighth title.
The match didn't finish until around 10pm at the London venue before he carried out several media duties.
Ronnie O'Sullivan wishes he didn't play at the World Grand Prix this week
ITV
He was back at the table less than 48 hours later to take on Pang Junxu at the World Grand Prix.
O'Sullivan sped into a 3-0 lead before his Chinese opponent pulled it back to 3-2.
The Rocket saw out the win to progress to the second round, where he will play Zhou Yuelong on Thursday.
O'Sullivan had already revealed he plans a break from the professional tour after this week's event.
However, he admitted after his first-round win that he wished he had pulled out.
O'Sullivan told ITV: "Yeah definitely I'm going to miss quite a few tournaments now after this.
"I shouldn't really have come here, to be honest with you. I thought I'd hurt my right ear.
"I thought I'd just turn up but in hindsight, I should have just bailed on this one as well.
"But I'm here now, so I'm going to give it my best shot."
O'Sullivan will continue to compete in events in China, while he also confirmed he wants to play at the Players Championship in Wolverhampton next month.
He added: "I'm going to try to qualify for the China event because I like the China events.
"That will be pretty much be me done until the next ITV event.
"I'll show up for the Players as well because that is quite a decent tournament."
However, the seven-time world champion claims exhibitions are more important to him at the moment than tournaments.
He claims he is 'not really bothered' about winning more events, despite his recent success.
LATEST SPORTS NEWS:
Ronnie O'Sullivan was back in action on Tuesday
Getty
O'Sullivan said: "The main thing for me is my exhibitions. "I'm contracted to do 20-25 exhibitions a year, so I've got to make time for them.
"I've got 20-30 days commitments with my sponsors. There's two months there and that's important stuff for me, that's my own sort of stuff really.
"I just play enough tournaments to make me get the cue out of the case.
"If I didn't have tournaments I probably wouldn't practice.
Ronnie O'Sullivan will be taking a break from snooker
PA
"I'd like to think if I fell off the tour, I might get a wildcard but knowing World Snooker they'll probably go 'No you're not getting one'.
"So I'm just trying to keep my tour card, that's all I really want to do.
"I'm not really bothered about winning tournaments.
"Most important thing is doing my exhibitions which I really enjoy and fulfilling my ambassador work.
"That's where I feel like I get my most enjoyment. Tournaments aren't my favourite bit to be fair."
You may like
