Five-time World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has compared behind closed doors snooker to being in prison. 

"The Rocket" reached the quarter-finals at the recent Championship League event in Milton Keynes, where strict COVID-19 safety measures were in place at the tournament.

“Really, it’s like playing snooker in a prison,” said O’Sullivan, who also recently spoke out against a proposal to allow fans attend the World Championship.

“Milton Keynes was like being in a prison, really - you had to eat the food they gave you, you couldn’t go anywhere that you wanted to go and you couldn’t do the things that you wanted to do that you can normally do at home.

“The protocol and restrictions I wasn’t quite prepared for, and that’s something going forward I need to think about and is it going to be sustainable for me.

“A lot of things you used to be able to control at events - where you stay, what you eat and what you do with your day - has been taken away.

“I didn’t enjoy being stuck in a room in a facility and not being able to get out. I really, really struggled with that," O'Sullivan added.

“If the World Championships is going to be like Milton Keynes and you’re being locked away in a hotel and you can’t go and get your own food or go for a run in the morning, that’s going to be tough and I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with that.”