Ronnie O'Sullivan's idea to help players financially rejected by the WST

O'Sullivan - who picked up £500,000 for his seventh world title win earlier this year - compared his sport to golf, and said the WST need to offer more financially to entice the next set of talented stars.

"I'm not talking about the winners," O'Sullivan said in December. "I'm talking about the guys that are ranked 60, 70 in the world that are struggling. It's not good for them.

"If you compared the 125th golfer and what he earns and the 125th snooker player then he'd make a million dollars on the golf tour.

"You can afford to miss a few cuts because you can make enough money to offset the losses you might make."

The Rocket did have an idea as to how they could fix the situation.

"One way you could maybe remedy it is at least give the first round losers their expenses," he said.

"A lot of these guys have not got the money. It's unfair. Take it off the top. Winners don't really need that extra money, give it to the first round losers so at least it doesn't cost them anything. Then you can call it a job."

However, according to The Metro , O'Sullivan's suggestion has been ignored by the WST ahead of the new season.

"We have made prize money increases to various events and we have made amendments which are aimed at creating a more balanced prize money ranking system," a spokesperson said.

"These changes are based on discussions and feedback from players and the WPBSA Players Board."