Ronnie O'Sullivan's decision to pull out of the Welsh Open is the latest drama to take place in the snooker legend's life.

O'Sullivan, 49, was due to compete in Llandudno against Jamie Clarke in the afternoon session on Tuesday. However, a blunt statement from the World Snooker Tour revealed the Rocket would not be present in North Wales, resulting in Clarke being handed a bye into the next round.

The WST statement read: "Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of the BetVictor Welsh Open. O’Sullivan was due to face Jamie Clarke at 1pm on Tuesday afternoon. Clarke will now receive a bye to the last 32."

READ MORE: Luke Littler banned from PDC events and unable to defend four titles

READ MORE: Snooker star Mark Williams injured by son as freak golf incident caught on CCTV

O'Sullivan recently pulled out of the Masters, admitting a "nightmare" few days filled with pressure and exhaustion in the run-up to the Triple Crown event culminated in his decision. After he decided to take himself out of the Welsh Open, Wales Online takes a look at when O'Sullivan may next compete and what has happened to the seven-time world champion recently.

Emotional outburst

O'Sullivan has not competed since his 3-2 loss to Robert Milkins in the World Championship League last month. During that contest, a furious O'Sullivan whacked his cue against the side of the table, snapping it upon impact. He then placed that very cue in a bin before his manager Robbie retrieved it.

A matter of days later, O'Sullivan pulled out of the Masters, a competition he has won on eight occasions. Explaining what prompted his sudden burst of anger, he said: "It was a nightmare decision really to make, if you’d have asked me Sunday if I was ready to play I’d probably have been ok to play.

"But it’s such a massive tournament. I’d been on a three-week trip away playing and I just think I exhausted myself, a lot of pressure while I was away. The build-up of all that just got a bit too much really.

“I lost the plot on Thursday, snapped my cue, so that’s unplayable, so I knew at that moment in time the right decision was to not play and such a big tournament that I thought whoever was to come in should have had at least a couple of days notice.”

Plea to the World Snooker Tour

While working as a pundit during Mark Selby's recent 6-1 victory over Ali Carter at the Masters, O'Sullivan said the WST should consider bringing in some mental health professionals to provide support to players on the tour. O'Sullivan, who has previously admitted to having a history of depression, alcohol and drug abuse, said: "I think World Snooker should have someone like in football.

"In football they may have a masseuse sorting out injuries. In snooker they should have someone at the tournament employed if there’s someone struggling. For 10 minutes, if you need to come off the table [and talk] – I’m not saying everyone will go in there because a lot of players suffer in silence. I can tell. You just look at them and know they’re struggling.

"But they should have someone to go to and talk to. I think that’s so important. You have coaches sorting your cue action out, but really you need someone to just [help] unload a bit. I think it would really help the players. I know Shaun Murphy is part of the panel. I think they could find the money to employ someone full-time to be there for the players."

When he will play next

At present, O'Sullivan is currently scheduled to face World No.78 Stuart Carrington in the World Open qualification round on February 23. Yet, as recent weeks has shown, O'Sullivan may pull out again, if he feels he is not in the right place to compete.

The Rocket has pulled out of his Championship League clash against Ali Carter and a German Masters match against Dylan Emery. As well as the tournament matches, he also didn't participate in an exhibition clash against former rival John Higgins in Helsinki.

His reasoning for all of those exits were attributed to medical reasons. A statement from O'Sullivan's team said: "We are really sorry to have to cancel the event in Helsinki this weekend. We will work with the promoters to find a date to reschedule a show when Ronnie is feeling better. We thank all his fans for their understanding."