Former snooker world champion Neil Robertson has been forced to withdraw from the Northern Ireland Open after a 'brutal' cold left him bedridden and struggling to breathe.

The Australian, 43, had been due to face Englishman David Grace in the first round of the Belfast tournament on Monday.

Robertson said he fell ill following his trip to China for the Xi'an Grand Prix earlier in the month, leaving him with 'no choice but to withdraw'.

The tournament was high on the list of priorities for the decorated potter, as it is one of the few he has yet to win, with a semi-final appearance in 2022 his best showing to date.

'After coming back from China I picked up a brutal respiratory virus in Xi’an that didn’t hit me until Sunday,' the snooker star posted on X.

'It made breathing anything above 40 per cent a challenge and bedridden for almost six days.

'I’ve never experienced anything like it and can quite honestly say it was one of the worst experiences I’ve gone through.

'I’m on the mend now but still quite a way to go, and for this reason I had no choice but to withdraw from Northern Ireland.

'It’s the only Home Nations event I haven’t won so it was high on my agenda this season. It’s a shame to miss it but sadly had no choice.'

Robertson reached the quarter-finals of last year’s tournament, where he was beaten 5-4 by Pang Junxu.

It has been a rollercoaster of a season so far for Robertson, with a 10-9 victory against legend Ronnie O’Sullivan to claim the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters back in August, a title he admitted had surpassed his World Championship triumph 15 years ago.

He subsequently withdrew from the Wuhan Open before being eliminated in the early rounds of both the English Open and British Open.

The 'Thunder from Down-Under' did not reveal whether he would be back in time to compete at the International Championship at the start of November in Nanjing, China.

Grace, 40, gets a bye into the second round as it is now too late to call up a replacement, with the action getting underway on Sunday.

Meanwhile, reigning champion Kyren Wilson takes on Oliver Lines on Tuesday afternoon. 

He is chasing Judd Trump’s position at the summit of the world rankings, with Trump set to face Scottish cueist Anthony McGill on Sunday evening.