Ronnie O'Sullivan's decision to withdraw from several ranking events could cost him ahead of the penultimate tournament of the season.
The 48-year-old's lack of action may see him lose his world No 1 spot to Judd Trump at the Tour Championship in Manchester next week.
O'Sullivan has won five tournaments so far this season but only two - the UK Championship and World Grand Prix - have contributed ranking points.
Trump, meanwhile, has won five ranking events, the latest of which came at the World Open in China on Sunday.
Ronnie O'Sullivan could lose his world No 1 spot at the Tour Championship next week
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O'Sullivan missed the first ranking tournament of the season at the Championship League last July.
He also pulled out of the European Masters, British Open and Northern Ireland Open due to medical reasons.
O'Sullivan sat out of the Snooker Shoot Out in December after previously saying he will 'never play' the tournament again.
He was also absent from the Scottish Open the following week, before withdrawing from the German Masters and Welsh Open in February.
O'Sullivan's decision to skip the tournaments has seen him miss the chance to pick up more ranking points and the chance to extend the gap over Trump.
He has held the top spot in the world rankings since he beat the 34-year-old in the World Championship final in 2022.
But there is a realistic chance Trump can overtake him at the Tour Championship.
Trump's win at the World Open has closed him within 18,000 points of O'Sullivan in the latest provisional ranking list.
If he wins the Tour Championship next week, he will become world No 1 for the first time since 2021.
He will also move to No 1 if he reaches the final and O'Sullivan loses in the semi-final or earlier.
Trump will enter the tournament at the quarter-final stage so may only need two wins to get back on top of the world.
O'Sullivan will maintain his No 1 spot if he wins the trophy or goes further than Trump at the event.
The pair will then head to the Crucible for the World Championship which begins on April 20.
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Ronnie O'Sullivan has chosen to skip several ranking events this season
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Last month, Trump confirmed his desire to overtake O'Sullivan in the rankings.
He told the WST: "I've not had many bad events and it's nice to be up there challenging again for that No 1 spot come the end of the season.
"If me and Ronnie keep that same form, it'll be a good battle and hopefully we can meet in a few more finals before the end of the season."
O'Sullivan will be aiming for a record-breaking eighth World Championship, a feat he is keen to achieve.
Judd Trump has won five ranking events to give him a chance of overtaking Ronnie O'Sullivan
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He said: "Yeah I'd love to. I'd love to try and win the Crucible. It's a hard tournament, long time, 17 days. So a lot can happen there.
"I'd love to win that another time to make it eight but there's so many good players around.
"So you have to get a little bit of luck, play some good snooker at the right time. I'll be going there trying my best."