O'Sullivan: I could quit British events

RONNIE O'Sullivan has warned he could quit playing tournaments in Britain after his quest for a record-breaking eighth world snooker title was shattered by Stuart Bingham in a major quarter-final upset at the Crucible.

- MARK STANIFORTH

O'Sullivan will jet off for an exhibition tour of China, Finland and Bulgaria next week, insisting he will pick and choose his future tournaments, and increasingly prioritise bigmoney offers from Saudi Arabia and the Far East.

The 48-year-old recently signed a deal with the Saudis which ironically commits him to signing a new contract with World Snooker Tour, in order to fulfil his obligation to play in the inaugural Saudi Masters in Riyadh at the end of August.

And with four other tournaments scheduled for China before the end of the year, O'Sullivan expects to pick up enough prizes and ranking points to enable him to keep his appearances at the less appealing UK events to a minimum.

O'Sullivan said: "I'm contracted to do certain events in China, and I'm contracted to go to Saudi, so obviously they've got first dibs then it's about spending time at home with the family.