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Former world champion Peter Ebdon retired from the professional snooker due to injury.
The 49-year-old man has chosen to end his career rather than undergo spinal surgery after suffering neck, back, shoulder and arm pain.
Ebdon won the 2002 World Championship, beating Stephen Hendry in an 18-17 thriller, and also reached the finals in 1996 and 2006.
He won eight other qualifying events, including the 2006 UK Championship, for 29 years on the circuit.
Ebdon told the sponsor of the World Championship Betfred: “About seven weeks ago I had an MRI that detected significant wear on my neck. There is severe deterioration in some of the vertebrae and I have been in pain since Christmas.
“Two of the vertebrae need to be replaced, which is not an operation I want to perform because if it went wrong I could be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.”
“It is too risky. The professor explained that it would not be a cure. It could work, but it could make things worse and I would probably need to have it again in 10 years.”
Reigning world champion Judd Trump tweeted: “Happy retirement to @pdebdon, what a fantastic career … I also learned a lot from playing it in my early career years and loved taking some crazy shots sometimes, which I respect very much hahaha.”
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