British snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan was knocked out of the 2023 Macau Snooker Masters quarter-final on Wednesday by Hong Kong’s Marco Fu.
O’Sullivan had sacrificed Christmas at home for the highly bankable invitational tournament, which kicked off at Wynn Palace’s Grand Theatre on 25 December.
His early 6-2 defeat means he misses out on the £150,000 (1.53 million patacas) winner’s cheque, though O’Sullivan will still receive appearance money worth over £35,000, EuroSport reports.
The sell-out 2023 Macau Snooker Masters final takes place today.
[See more: The world’s no. 1 snooker player looks forward to ‘Christmas in Macao’]
Earlier this year, O’Sullivan drew ire from the World Snooker Tour (WST) – whose tournaments he is contractually obliged to play in – by backing fellow 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 said. “I’ve got to think of my family and all of that sort of stuff.”
O’Sullivan has threatened to quit the WST in protest at its rules.
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.
