'Disappointed' – Ronnie O'Sullivan's Turkish Masters snub fails to bring delight to snooker chiefs

Ronnie O'Sullivan has missed out on the opportunity to cash in by opting out of snooker's inaugural Turkish Masters in a dispute over appearance money, according to the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairman (WPBSA) Jason Ferguson. The world No. 2 has decided against travelling to the salubrious five-star Nirvana Cosmopolitan Hotel in Antalya next month because he was not offered any extra financial incentive by tournament promoters to participate.

Ad/> The £500,000 Turkish Masters runs between March 7-13 and is live on Eurosport with a £100,000 winner's cheque, but that has not been enough to tempt the sport's biggest draw to board a plane in his 30th year as a professional. Players ChampionshipCan O'Sullivan return to world No. 1 spot?YESTERDAY AT 08:24 O'Sullivan is the only player in the world's top 16 to give the event a miss, much to the chagrin of organisers, with former world No.

28 Ferguson lamenting the short-sightedness of the thought process. «Of course I am disappointed he did not enter and won’t be there. I know Ronnie has a huge number of fans in Turkey,» Ferguson said in an interview with the Sportsman.

«And it is disappointing for them that they won’t see him. »That said, they will be overjoyed with the rest of the players who make the trip, apart from that the entries were amazing – 15 of the top 16. 'I have not played any better' – Hungry Higgins piles on £20,000 before Players Championship defence White set for Welsh Open crack at Robertson, but who do O'Sullivan and Trump face? O'Sullivan: 'Nobody wants to smell urine during an interview' “I can only work hard to deliver world-class events." /> It sounds a far cry from O'Sullivan's experience of the 2018 English Open at the K2