- Ronnie O'Sullivan was due to open the competition on Sunday with John Higgins.
- The Rocket has now been replaced by former world number one Neil Robertson
- A furious seven-time world champion withdrew from an event earlier this week
Ronnie O'Sullivan has withdrawn from the upcoming Masters citing medical reasons for his decision.
The announcement comes just days before the first match of the tournament, in which defending champion O'Sullivan would have started the competition against John Higgins on Sunday.
The seven-time world champion claimed a record eighth Masters title last January after defeating Ali Carter 10-7 at Alexandra Palace in a clash that preceded a fierce war of words between the pair.
However, a statement from the World Snooker Tour has stated that he will now be absent from the Masters for health reasons, to be replaced by 17th seed Neil Robertson, who narrowly missed the 16-man cut.
“Neil Robertson has replaced Ronnie O'Sullivan in the draw for the upcoming Johnstone's Paint Masters,” the statement began.
'Last year's champion O'Sullivan was due to face John Higgins in the opening match on Sunday afternoon but withdrew for medical reasons.
Ronnie O'Sullivan has withdrawn from the Masters for medical reasons, according to a statement
O'Sullivan, the reigning Masters champion, was due to start the tournament on Sunday.
'Higgins will now face Robertson, who was ranked 17th in the qualifying cut after the UK Victorian Plumbing Championships.
“Johnstone's Paint Masters will be held from 12 to 19 January at Alexandra Palace, London.”
It follows an extraordinary week for The Rocket which also saw them withdraw from the Champions League after a series of strange gestures in their penultimate group match.
The snooker legend lost three of his four matches on Wednesday and appeared to struggle with the tip of his cue on numerous occasions, and at several points the seven-time world champion's emotions seemed to get the best of him.
He could be seen hitting the table with his cue after losing a pot. O'Sullivan quickly apologized to the referee and his opponent after the incident.
He later fired a white ball into a group of reds, allowing his opponent Robert Milkins to claim a 3-2 victory.
In another notable incident, after missing a routine blue bounce, O'Sullivan appeared to perform a lewd gesture by spreading his legs in a crouch, sticking out his tongue and moving his cue back and forth from his waist.
The Rocket were due to play Ali Carter in their final group match on Thursday afternoon, but decided to withdraw from the competition.
O'Sullivan pulled off a series of bizarre antics during his loss to Robert Milkins this week.
The 49-year-old apologized to the referee and his opponent for banging his cue on the table.
Commentator Dave Hendon explained: “Ronnie O'Sullivan we saw earlier was clearly frustrated against Robert Milkins. He has made the decision to withdraw from the tournament so will not be playing his final match against Ali Carter.
'It means that all the games he was involved in were cancelled, so he is at zero (points).
'Effectively now it is a group of six men. Still, the top four will go through (to the semi-finals) and only one player apart from O'Sullivan will be relegated.'
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