Ronnie gave a quite positive interview to Eurosport.
This is an excertp sahed by ES on twitter
Anthony Hamilton has apologised to his beaten qualifiers opponents:
It’s been reported by various sources, but here is David Caulfield piece
Anthony Hamilton: “I want to apologise to my opponents at the qualifiers.”
The World Snooker Championship gets under way on Friday in Sheffield.
Anthony Hamilton has decided to withdraw from the Betfred World Championship for medical reasons.
Hamilton came through the qualifying rounds, winning two matches, but subsequently decided to pull out of the event as he suffers from chronic asthma.
He had been due to face Kyren Wilson in the last 32 at the Crucible on Friday afternoon, with the second session on Saturday evening. Wilson now receives a bye to the last 16.
“It has been a really difficult decision for me,” said 49-year-old Anthony Hamilton, from Nottingham.
“I was extremely impressed by the way that WST and their partners ran the qualifying rounds, they made the players feel totally safe.”
“And I realise they have followed all of the government guidelines and implemented extensive measures for the main event at the Crucible.
“However due to my health condition, after careful consideration I have decided not to play in the final stages.
“I want to apologise to my opponents at the qualifiers, Sam Craigie and Scott Donaldson, and assure them that I had every intention of playing at the Crucible.
“But it was only after I finished the qualifying rounds that I was able to do a full personal risk assessment based on the latest information and discussions with WST.
“I am absolutely gutted not to be playing because it is the best tournament and the Crucible is the home of snooker.
“I wish everyone the best and hope the event is a great success.”
World number 48 Hamilton will receive the £20,000 he earned by reaching the last 32 and that will count towards his world ranking.
WST has announced the Crucible referees:
Here are the men and women in black for this year’s Betfred World Championship.
2020 Crucible Referees
Marcel Eckardt – Germany (Final)
Brendan Moore – England
Jan Verhaas – Holland
Paul Collier – Wales
Leo Scullion – Scotland
Desislava Bozhilova – Bulgaria
Rob Spencer – England
Tatiana Woollaston – Belarus
Ben Williams – England
…
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Snooker is not the same without Ronnie Osullivan being in the mix, Just love watching Ronnie play. He,s so exciting to watch, and always gives his best, In my opinion the greatest player ever, Hope he goes all the way this year, When Ronnie is not playing Snooker is not the same without having Ronnie in the mix, Good luck and I,m shore you going to win the Tournament at the Crucible , Without Ronnie it’s not worth watching, As he,s the greatest player ever in my Opinion, Good luck Ronnie, and please keep playing , Snooker is not Snooker without you in the tournaments , love to see Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final against Trump again , that would be a great match, and I,m shore Ronnie seems to raise his game even higher when he,s playing the Top players, , and in my Opinion he,s the best Snooker Player ever
It only just occurred to me that Ronnie shaved his mustache…
Yes he did! Good choice and it was a nice interview, thanks Monique, I hope that from his moods this positive will prevail.
“Ronnie gave a quite positive interview to Eurosport.”
Good to hear Ronnie being in a positive frame of mind. He seems to feel good about his chances, which goes a long way toward helping him win. Like some of us, he too thinks that it’s to his advantage to have everyone rusty, which is presumably part of why he is optimistic. The very fact that he is committed to playing (in spite of the unnecessary health risks imposed by Hearn) says a lot about how much is prioritizing the WSC at this point in time…
Yes indeed, since Ronnie is quite concerned with his health, I think he would have always withdrawn in any other tournament. But that he is still willing to play now says a lot.
I didn’t see any of Thepchaiyas qualification matches so I don’t know whether he is playing well at the moment but it will already be a big first round for Ronnie. Let’s not forget that Thep pushed Trump all the way into a decider last year.