‘Start a new life’ – Ronnie O’Sullivan sparks fresh retirement fears with plans to leave UK

Ronnie O’Sullivan has sparked speculation about his retirement after revealing plans to relocate to the Middle East.

The seven-time World Champion will leave the UK behind after his Crucible semi-final loss to Zhao Xintong on Friday.

O’Sullivan lost 17-7 after a dominant showing from the 28-year-old who became the second player from Asia to reach a Crucible final.

Nine years after his fellow Chinese countryman Ding Junhui lost to Mark Selby.

Prior to the tournament the last time O’Sullivan played competitively was in January in the Championship League due to medical reasons.

Days before the championship he lacked confidence questioning whether he was at the level required to win.

Despite not winning a record eight championships, he made it to the last four which is impressive considering the lack of matches he played beforehand.  

After his loss O’Sullivan said: “There’s going to be a few changes in my life, so I’ll see how that goes.

“I think I’m going to be moving out of the UK as well this year.

“So I don’t know how that’s all going to pan out, to be honest with you.

“I’m going to start a new life somewhere else. I’ll still try to play snooker but I don’t know what the future looks like for me really.

“Am I not playing again? I’m not saying anything. I’ve said it so many times.

“I’m not saying anything other than I’m moving away soon. There’s a lot more important things in life to worry about than a game of snooker.

“For me, it’s a big part of my life, but I’ve got to try and figure out what my future looks like, whether it’s playing or not.

“I’ll be moving away to the Middle East. See how it goes. I might be back in six months, who knows!”

O'Sullivan reportedly put his Essex home up for sale months ago.

The 49-year-old owns a snooker academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and may decide to focus more on his business venture.

His heavy defeat to Xintong, exiting the tournament with a spare session left, may have been the ultimate driver behind O’Sullivan reconsidering his career and location.

He lost all eight frames in the second session which left a huge mountain to climb at the Crucible.

If O’Sullivan decides to retire he will go down as the best snooker player of all-time - an opinion held by the majority of fans.