Ronnie O’Sullivan withdraws from 2023 Scottish Open ‘due to medical reasons’ ahead of Liam Graham match

Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from the Scottish Open due to medical reasons.

The world No.1 was due to begin his campaign against Liam Graham on Monday afternoon, and the Scot will now receive a bye into round two.

“The world number one was set to face Liam Graham in the opening round, but Graham will now receive a bye.”

O’Sullivan is a two-time winner of the event after beating John Higgins and Mark Williams in the 1998 and 2000 finals, respectively.

He was also runner-up in 2020, when he lost 9-5 to Mark Selby in the final.

The seven-time world champion recently lifted the UK Championship title, beating Ding Junhui 10-7 in the final.

This came 30 years after his first as a 17-year-old, holding the unique feat of becoming the youngest and oldest winner of this competition.

He was “mentally feeling a bit drained and stressed” after taking part at the International Championship in China.

He said: “A lot of it for me is prevention rather than cure. I don’t want to get to that point where I’m thinking, ‘I’ve overdone it here, again’.

“So when I pull out, it’s not like that I’m on the floor in bits, or I’m really struggling. It’s just I know that if I was to go to that tournament, then I would put myself in a not very good place, and I wouldn’t be enjoying the snooker.

“For me, it’s about enjoying my snooker, and to do that, I feel like I need to get enough rest in between tournaments and be able to prepare for a tournament.”