By John Jones

Copyright walesonline

The new British Open champion will be crowned later today as a week of snooker action wraps up with the grand final in Cheltenham. Many of the sport’s greatest ever champions have triumphed in the tournament over the last 40 years, with Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and John Higgins among the most prolific winners. Ronnie O’Sullivan is another previous champion, but the 49-year-old was a notable absentee from this year’s competition after pulling out at short notice due to “medical reasons”. O’Sullivan has missed several high-profile tournaments in recent years, with his withdrawal from the latest competition coming after he also pulled out of participating in the English Open earlier this month. He last played at the Saudi Arabia Masters in August, where he lost a closely-fought final to Neil Robertson. At the start of the year, he spent three months away from competitive action after a bizarre meltdown saw him snap his cue and bin it while competing in the Championship League in Leicester. He returned to compete in the World Snooker Championship in April , reaching the semi-finals before being knocked out by eventual champion Zhao Xintong. His absences come against a backdrop of turbulent events in his personal life, from his relationship with an Eastenders actress and his plans to leave the UK for the Middle East. Here’s what you need to know. In June, O’Sullivan sprang a surprise when it was announced that he had married EastEnders, Holby City and Footballers’ Wives actress Laila Rouass, just 10 months after it was reported they had split up. Their turbulent relationship began in 2012, when Rouass was shown around the snooker star’s house while property hunting and O’Sullivan later asked her out through the estate agent. They got engaged just a year later and were together for the best part of a decade before splitting up in 2022. While they soon patched things up, they separated again at the start of 2024, seemingly for good. However, the pair went on to tie the knot over the summer, with O’Sullivan telling fans: “We finally made it official!! Mr & Mrs O’Sullivan.” After they got married on Cable Street in Shadwell, East London, Rouass, who also starred on Strictly Come Dancing in 2009, told her social media followers: “Palestinians have taught me so much, most importantly to honour human connection, make love your motivator and to keep refreshing it. So l suppose after almost a year break…this was one way of pressing the refresh button “Ok… so it wasn’t Venice…that was fully booked. It was Cable Street in Shadwell where I was born and where my heart belongs. It’s where in 1936, local activists along with the Jewish community gathered together to demonstrate against the planned fascist BUF marchers. “The Battle of Cable Street was used by my father as an example of how a community rooted in justice, can bring change…that we all have a duty to fight for the freedom and rights of others,” she explained. “The East End is the land of the immigrants. Its vibrancy, diversity and working class roots is something I treasure. “I was born there, I was educated there, today I was married there and I will be buried there because my roots are my roots. Free Palestine. Mrs O’Sullivan.” O’Sullivan has three children from previous relationships, having first welcomed a daughter, Taylor Ann, with ex-girlfriend Sally Magnus in 1997. He also has a son, Ronnie Jr, and a daughter, Lily, with his former partner of eight years, Jo Langley, while he became a grandfather at the age of 42 when Taylor-Ann gave birth to a daughter in 2018. O’Sullivan has also set his sights on making a permanent move to Dubai , having already decided to take “a little break” from the UK. After his World Championships exit, the seven-time world champion said: “I think I am going to be moving out of the UK this year. I’ll be moving away to the Middle East. We’ll see how it goes – I might be back in six months. “A new life somewhere else. I don’t know how that is going to pan out. I will still try to play snooker but I don’t know what the future looks like for me really.” His long-time manager Jason Francis told the Daily Express that the move was partly motivated by O’Sullivan wanting a “quieter” life , as he explained: “Ronnie’s moved out to the Middle East for a while. You’ll probably see him first in Shanghai. He’s had a little break from the UK. “You’re talking about someone who can’t go to the shop without being asked for a selfie, a photo. Where he is, he’s finding a life a little bit quieter at the moment.” “Ronnie’s Ronnie. He’ll decide when he wants to play and everyone knows he can come from nowhere to win a major tournament,” he added. “You won’t see Ronnie play a full schedule [this season] but I think you’ll see him try and properly prepare for the tournaments he plays in. “He’ll still be the sport’s most commercial player in the short-term. Whether Zhao Xintong or [Judd] Trump can pick up that mantle now as we transition. Ronnie will be 50 in December, people have to remember that. They still expect him to turn up and win everything.” A source told The Sun that O’Sullivan would be joined abroad by Rouass following their surprise marriage, adding: “Ronnie is moving to the Middle East and Laila is going with him. They’ve talked about living in Dubai, which is just a two-hour flight from where Ronnie has his snooker academy in Saudi Arabia. “He has spoken to people on his snooker circuit about the move and is excited about a clean break from the UK for him and Laila . They have had their issues in the past but Ronnie and Laila have worked through it and seem really happy again. The people who know them think they make a great couple and just want them to live a happy, quiet life.” Despite his often-turbulent life away from the table, there is no denying O’Sullivan’s success on it, with his raft of major titles helping him to build an astonishing personal fortune. As one of the sport’s greatest ever players, he today boasts a massive net worth that is estimated to be in the region of £20million. Since bursting onto the scene as a teenager, he has pocketed around £14.5 million in prize money alone over the course of his career, which has seen him win an incredible 41 ranking titles, including 23 Triple Crown victories. The 2023/24 campaign saw him win £1.25m in prize money after triumphing at the Shanghai Masters, UK Championship, the Masters, World Grand Prix and World Masters. When he’s not banking a huge fortune at tournaments, O’Sullivan is also making a sizeable sum through major sponsorship deals, having worked with the likes of tech company ROKiT, Eurosport and snooker business BCE Riley over the years.