Ronnie O’Sullivan to play in new £100,000 tournament with radical rules days after World Championship

Ronnie O’Sullivan will compete in the inaugural Global Snooker 900 Championship later this year.

‘The Rocket’ has signed up for the innovative new tournament in Reading, just eight days after the World Snooker Championship ends.

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Between May 12-17, O’Sullivan will join a host of huge names for the brand new six-day event, which has a £100,000 prize pot.

It represents a quick turnaround for those competing in the World Snooker Championship, which finishes on May 4.

O’Sullivan will be looking to bring his A-game at the Crucible first, as he targets a record-breaking eighth crown, and a first since 2022.

And he will then head south for a tournament with a twist, where he will compete alongside former world champions Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham.

Seniors circuit players Jimmy White, Joe Perry and Alfie Burden are all set to be part of the line-up, with a host of amateur players making up the rest of the 20-player draw.

Over the coming months, qualifying events will be held to determine the field for the Global Snooker 900 Championship,

The Global Snooker 900 Championship will feature 20 players, with one a qualifier under the age of 18.

O’Sullivan will receive a boost in his bid for glory too as he gets a bye to the quarter-final on Friday, May 15.

What are the rules for Global Snooker 900 Championships?

The new-look tournament will be best of nine frames until the semi-finals – which is best of 11 – before a best of 19 final Sunday, May 17.

In a shake-up to tradition, the Championship will be played under timed ‘900 rules’, with frames lasting no longer than 15 minutes (900 seconds).

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On top of this, it is ball in hand for a foul and there is a 20-second shot clock to speed up the play.

The Global Snooker 900 Championship will be shown on streaming channel Pluto TV, a dedicated snooker platform launched last October.

The channel is set to pay out over £600,000 in prize money across its debut year, and saw action began with former world no.10 Tony Drago winning the curtain-raising ‘Legends League’.

There have also been ‘Amateur League’ weeks for non-professional players, while Junior and disability players have also had the chance to shine with dedicated events for them to compete in.

Jason Francis, manager of O’Sullivan and the creator of the Snooker Legends brand, admitted his appearance inaugural Global Snooker 900 Championship would bring much-needed exposure for the event.

He said: “Snooker 900 has pledged to provide opportunities for professional players like Ronnie as well as provide TV exposure for juniors, women, amateurs and players with a disability.

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“Both Ronnie and Jimmy are supportive of our efforts to provide opportunities on TV for junior players.

“And both have said they would consider mentoring anyone we discover who they think has real potential to make it one day in the professional game.”

The Global Snooker 900 Championship follows on from the Crucible Cup in November, the biggest competition held by Pluto TV so far.

It saw seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry return to competition, which ended in a first-round defeat to Neil Robertson.

When did Ronnie O’Sullivan last compete?

O’Sullivan has not played in the UK since December 2, when he suffering a first-round defeat to Zhou Yuelong at the UK Championship.

Now living in Dubai, the 50-year-old has been forced to choose which events he competes in carefully after relocating.

He was due to play in the Masters first round on Wednesday evening, but withdrew a week ahead of the competition, citing medical reasons.