Ronnie O Ronnie O'Sullivan has confirmed his intention to take in the pool circuit this season, with the Essex star ready to put his American ambitions ahead of snooker. O'Sullivan has backtracked on his decision to take a year away from snooker by signing up for the majority of this season's ranking tournaments, but he says he will sidestep the lower-profile events in favour of his American ambitions. The Rocket kicks off his snooker season in Plymouth on Thursday when he tackles Stephen Hendry in the Betfred Premier League, live on Sky Sports, but he is looking forward to a new challenge in November. "I would give pool tournaments in the USA priority over those smaller events if there was a dates clash," he told the Daily Express. "I won't be going to China and maybe not the smaller events like the Welsh Open and the Irish Masters, if that's on the calendar again. "I don't anticipate any problems with the snooker authorities. No-one can force you to play in a tournament. "If it came to it, I'd say, `all right then, I won't play in any of the BBC events, any of the Sky events, I'll hand my contract in and go off to America to play pool for a year'. "I'd have enough ranking points to stay in the top 16. But I don't want a confrontation, I want the authorities to bear with me." The 29-year-old is looking forward to the challenges that lie in wait on the other side of the Atlantic. "My first pool tournament should be in Orlando in November," he added. "It's a whole new challenge and I'll get no favours while I'm learning. "Who I am and what I've done in snooker won't matter."
