RONNIE O’SULLIVAN intends to open up his 2026 snooker season next week in Berlin after recovering from illness.
The Rocket has not played a competitive match since he lost to Zhou Yuelong in the first round of the UK Championship in York on December 2 – three days before his 50th birthday.
The seven-time world champion pulled out of the Masters, citing medical reasons.
He was initially due to face Neil Robertson in round one of the competition.
O’Sullivan, who is now based in Dubai, had been practising for the past few days in Ireland, facing two professional stars at an Irish pub.
But sources close to him say he did not feel physically fit to go straight back into top-level competition.
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It is understood he had been ill recently and felt drained in the week before the Triple Crown event at Ally Pally.
Yet SunSport has been told he is on the mend and planning to play at next week’s German Masters at Berlin’s Tempodrom.
O’Sullivan, seeded ninth in the draw, has a heldover qualifier at the tournament against China’s Long Zehuang, with the winner playing Ali Carter in round one.
The champion of this ranking tournament on the night of Sunday, February 1 will earn £100,000 prize money.
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This is O’Sullivan’s 34th season as a pro – he graduated into the ranks in 1992 – but technically he missed the 2012-13 season, returning only at the end of it to retain his Crucible title in incredible scenes.