was drawn against Scottish teenager Liam Graham in the first round of the Welsh Open, just a fortnight after Graham accused the snooker great of being “disrespectful” ahead of their proposed clash in Edinburgh. Graham was set to meet O’Sullivan at the Scottish Open, but the World Snooker Tour (WST) at the last minute confirmed that the Rocket had pulled out of the event.
The WST cited “medical reasons” for O’Sullivan’s absence as Graham was handed a bye into the second round of the tournament, but he was upset at the manner of O’Sullivan dropping out of the tournament. “It’s disrespectful what he’s done, it’s not right,” Graham said.
A lot of people took time off work to come and watch today and it’s disappointing. At the end of the day I want to play the best players in the world and I was really looking forward to it.
“I had a lot of people coming to watch and it’s really disappointing for them. It’s not surprising given the things he does. I found out when I got to the venue this morning. I didn’t have much prior warning, I think he pulled out very late. I would have stayed at home and all the people who have travelled to watch me would have come another day as well.”
