O'Sullivan pulls out of China Open

Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from the China Open citing medical reasons.

The world champion and world number one rang tournament organisers in Beijing on Friday night explaining why he was withdrawing from the £200,000 (€288,700) world-ranking event which starts at the Haidan Stadium in Beijing tomorrow.

O’Sullivan is a star attraction wherever he plays and by pulling out at such a late stage has damaged snooker’s return to the People’s Republic for the first time in three years.

The absence of O’Sullivan also ends his chances of equalling Stephen Hendry’s record five world-ranking titles in a single season.

He has already won the Grand Prix, Welsh Open and Irish Masters during a golden 2004-05 campaign that has also yielded the Masters trophy and €405,000 in prize money.

The withdrawal of O’Sullivan, who overcame a streaming head cold and flu-like symptoms to win the Irish Masters in Dublin two weeks ago, might be bad news for the event but Stoke’s Dave Harold is not complaining.

Should Harold beat Chinese wild card Xiao Guo Dong as expected tomorrow he will receive a bye into the last 16.

Harold will be relieved by his inactivity as his career head-to-head record against O’Sullivan reads nine matches, nine defeats.

With UK champion Stephen Maguire failing to book a place in the last 48 – he lost 5-1 to Harold in the final qualifying round at Prestatyn in January – and Paul Hunter still recovering from surgery to remove a cyst, Hendry has been made favourite.

The seven-times world champion, winner of the first ranking event to be staged in China in 1990, is hoping to complete an overseas double this season following his success in February’s Malta Cup.

Those 16 players who survived the final qualifying round take on 16 Asian wild cards – 13 from China, one from Bahrain, Thailand and India – with the winners progressing to meet the seeded top-16 players in the last 32.

Barry Pinches, who secured an upset victory over Jimmy White in the first round at the Crucible last year and has booked his return to Sheffield, is one of those involved on day one.

The Norwich player faces local amateur Yang Qing Tian, 1995 world finalist Nigel Bond plays highly rated Chinese left-hander Liang Wen Bo and controversial Aussie Quinten Hann meets Guo Hua.