O'Sullivan set for playing return
Ronnie O'Sullivan is set to return to the main tour
World snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has settled his differences with the sport's governing body and is set to return to the main tour.
The 36-year-old announced after landing his fourth Crucible title that he intended to take a lengthy break. It later emerged that the unavailability of appearance money was a factor in his refusal to sign a World Snooker players' contract, which he said was "too onerous".
But his management company Grove announced on Twitter: "Good news. @ronnieo147 may be playing again. Contract clarified. Uk and international in china entered."
Tuesday, at midday, was the deadline for O'Sullivan to sign and be eligible for December's UK Championship in York.
O'Sullivan added: "Happy to be back in snooker. See you all soon xx"
The growth of the professional tour since Barry Hearn stepped in as World Snooker chairman in December 2009 has been a factor in O'Sullivan's growing frustration.
He said in May there were "certain pressures that I can't do with anymore", and the calendar becoming become crammed with tournaments carrying world ranking points had meant there was added pressure to appear everywhere.
Hearn's contention is that snooker has never offered so many opportunities for players to earn.
Last season O'Sullivan, the sport's guaranteed crowd-puller, was close to falling out of the top 16 and having to go through qualifying to reach round one of the World Championship. And while he eventually made the cut and his world title lifted him to ninth, by remaining inactive since then the Essex-based cueman has slipped to 15th place.
His return to top-level snooker is set to come at the new International Championship in China, which runs from October 28 to November 4, offering a top prize of £125,000 and the same number of ranking points as the UK Championship.
