Ronnie O'Sullivan gives first interview since his X-rated rant at Ali Carter, takes dig at World Snooker

Ronnie O'Sullivan aimed at a small dig at World Snooker in an interview following his first round win at the World Grand Prix on Tuesday - and confirmed he will soon take a break from the sport.

O'Sullivan won his eighth Masters title on Sunday, beating Ali Carter 10-7 in the final at Alexandra Palace.

But all the attention in the days following his success has been on comments made by the pair following the final.

Carter originally accused O'Sullivan of 'snotting all over the floor' and displaying 'outrageous' behaviour during the match.

O'Sullivan responded with a X-rated rant, telling Carter that he 'needs to sort his f***ing life out' and that 'everybody knows what he's [Carter] like'.

'The Captain' then hit back in an interview with ITV prior to his first round match at the World Grand Prix on Tuesday afternoon.

He said he simply 'talked facts', and added: "I actually feel a bit sorry for him, I don't think he's that well mentally. So we move forward and go again."

Both players won their first round matches in Leicester, with Carter needing a decider to beat Wu Yize 4-3 before Ronnie defeated Pang Junxu 4-2 in another competitive encounter.

Those victories raise the prospect of a pair meeting in what would be a tantalising final.

Speaking after the match with ITV's Rob Walker, O'Sullivan confirmed that, regardless of how far he progresses during the tournament, he will be missing some upcoming events.

He explained: "I'll be missing quite a few tournaments after this.

"I shouldn't really have even come here to be honest with you. I thought I'd be alright here, so I thought I'd just turn up, but in hindsight, I probably should have just bailed on this one.

"But I'm here now, so I'm going to give my best shot."

He also found time to target a dig at the sport's organisers, World Snooker, stating: "I just play enough tournaments just to make me get my cue out of my case. If I didn't have tournaments, I probably wouldn't practice.

"I'd like to think that if I fell off the tour, I might get a wildcard - but knowing World Snooker, they'd probably go, 'No, you ain't getting one!' I'm just trying to keep my tour card, that's all I want to do really."

While he admitted that he will try and qualify for the upcoming events in China, O'Sullivan added that he will be 'pretty much done' until the Players Championship on February 19 - which he described as a 'decent tournament'.

There are two tournaments before then - the German Masters and Welsh Open - with the World Open in China starting on March 19.

He is also on the provisional entry list for the final stages of the Championship League, which starts on March 1, although it is unclear as to whether he will play in it.

The Tour Championship then kicks off on April 1, before O'Sullivan then looks to become just the fourth player to win all three Triple Crown events (Masters, UK Championship and World Championship) in the same season when the World Championship gets underway at the Crucible on April 20.