RONNIE O’SULLIVAN could make a sensational return to snooker to defend his World Championship title.

The Rocket, a four-time Crucible champ, has taken the rest of the season off to deal with personal problems and spend more time with his family.

But World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn revealed he and O’Sullivan have had secret meetings to discuss the possibility of the sport’s biggest box-office draw returning for the showpiece tournament next April.

Hearn said: “I have told Ronnie the only tournament for us if he wanted to change his mind is the World Championship.

“We are not sure exactly when the closing date for that would be, maybe the end of January, and I will call him and make sure he knows when it is. Then he has the option and it is his decision.

“We know how much interest that would generate at this season’s event, clearly more so as defending world champion after almost a season out.

“We didn’t want to lose Ronnie at all for the profile he brings. Last time we spoke he was still intent on missing the season but he is infamous for changing direction so who knows.

“One thing that will not have escaped Ronnie’s attention is how uncompetitive Ricky Hatton was on his return to boxing. Snooker is so competitive that he will know you either take it 100 per cent seriously or don’t play at all. That is the issue in his mind.”

Former world champ Ken Doherty and two-time finalist Ali Carter would both welcome O’Sullivan’s return to snooker’s biggest event.

Doherty said: “What a great story it would be if he just came back for the World Championship. It would create such a buzz and excitement for the players and the fans.

“I definitely think Ronnie has much more to offer the game.”

Carter added: “I think he will be back for the World Championships, no matter what everyone says now. There is no way he will miss it.”

Just finished watching the UK championship. Some great stuff as per usual but his lack of presence was felt. I'll be truley gutted if he has retired for good and I'd love to arrange go to Sheffield in April on the offchance he does play and even then, I may not see him.

*sulks*

Federer has grown on me recently...maybe because he's no longer absolutely invincible, he's human after all And now that he's getting a bit long in the tooth in tennis terms, I'm rooting for him a bit more.

All you need to do is buy tickets for absolutely every match of the first round. If that's not a good investment, I don't know what is.

I watched a bit of the UK. I'm going to try supporting Brecel, I saw some of his videos on Youtube of him making a 147 when he was about 11. It isn't the same without ROS. It makes me wonder how much I will miss Federer when he jacks in playing tennis.