Snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan has warned that he will quit the World Snooker Tour if he is stopped from playing events in China.
O'Sullivan is the most successful snooker player in history, winning a record 39 ranking events.
He has lifted the World Snooker Championship - the sport's most prestigious prize - on seven occasions, tying him with Stephen Hendry as the record winner of the tournament in the modern era.
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The 47-year-old has considered bowing out of snooker on numerous occasions, however. During the 2012/13 season, he played just one competitive match before roaring back to win the 2013 World Championship.
Five years earlier, after winning the 2008 title, he said he would 'need some time to think over the summer' about whether he wanted to keep on playing.
In September, O'Sullivan spoke of his enjoyment at playing events in China, and said that he would prioritise those events over Home Nations tournaments in the UK over the upcoming months due to his ongoing tennis elbow problem.
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He explained (quotes via Daily Express): "I am at the stage where I don't really need the money, events, victories. I will do my punditry work [at the Home Nations events] as that is contractual, but that doesn't involve playing.
"I just want to play enough. I will make the effort to go to China 15-20 times a year if I can for some short trips.
"My elbow has been killing me again - it is a nightmare, and I have had injections."
Now, ahead of the release of his new documentary, 'The Edge of Everything', which will be released on Amazon Prime Video on Thursday, O'Sullivan told BBC Sport that he would quit the tour if World Snooker - the sport's governing body - stopped him from playing in China.
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"If I can't go and do what I need to do, which is play a lot in China, I won't ever play again," he stated. "So, we're at a kind of crossroads now.
"If that gets to the point where I'm not able to do that, I'm not allowed to do that, I probably won't play. I'll probably go and play Chinese 8-Ball because I still want to play snooker, I still want a cue in my hand.
"There's just not enough here in the UK for me to justify the effort that I put in. If someone's going to respect me and value me more, why would I not go there?
"It's like being in an unhealthy relationship with someone, why would you be in that?
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"I'd love to be able to just keep playing snooker for the next five, six, seven, eight years. But if I'm going to be forced into a situation where that's not possible, then I'm not going to just accept whatever 132 players do, which is to go and play tournament after tournament, week in week out."
Featured Image Credit: GettyTopics: Ronnie O’Sullivan, Snooker