Please note that this is NOT an official website. At this point in time Ronnie O’ Sullivan does not have an official website, nor does he wish to have one.
I will be honest, the way things have gone recently, and the not so positive mindset Ronnie seemed to be in, I never expected Ronnie to beat Mark Selby in their quarter-final match, but he did 😊 and I’m happy, not because I “hate” Mark Selby – actually I really like him – but because it’s such a nice “surprise” …
Ronnie will now face Chang Bingyu who beat Judd Trump quite convincingly as well.
Seven-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan scored a 5-3 win over Mark Selby, avenging a whitewash defeat in their last meeting, to make the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open.
The Rocket and Selby have been engaged in one of snooker’s most significant rivalries throughout the years, having crossed cues in all three of snooker’s Triple Crown finals. Their previous clash saw Selby win 6-0 at the 2024 Players Championship. Today’s win for O’Sullivan moves him 18-12 in front in their head-to-head standings.
O’Sullivan has been openly frustrated with his game this week and things appeared to be getting away from him when Selby established a 2-0 advantage this afternoon. However, at that moment the 41-time ranking event winner clicked into gear.
Breaks of 87, 96 and 72 saw O’Sullivan turn the match on its head and move 3-2 up. Selby replied to restore parity, but it was to be the last frame he registered.
A moment of magic appeared to be on the cards in the seventh, with O’Sullivan on a 147 before breaking down by missing a simple red on 80. He didn’t let the disappointment linger and a superb 129 booked his spot in the last four, where he will meet Chang Bingyu.
“We’ve had some unbelievable battles. I look at Mark and I know where he is at, as I was there seven or eight years ago. He has a lot of good years left in the game. I think he is going to be around for a long time. He is a legend of the game and an all-time great,” said 50-year-old O’Sullivan.
“You have Zhao Xintong and Wu Yize, but this kid (Chang Bingyu) is up with them. Without a doubt. He was storming through the season and I said to my mate I fancied him to win the event in Taiyuan. He got beat by Neil Robertson but anyone can lose a match. He’s here in the semi-finals and maybe he is going to win a trophy. You probably have to say he is favourite to win the tournament.“
24-year-old Chang put on a sublime display to brush aside world number one Judd Trump 5-1 and end his reign at the summit of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings.
Defeat for Trump means he is guaranteed to vacate the world number one position at the end of the week. That means tonight’s quarter-final between Zhao Xintong and Neil Robertson is a straight shoot out for top spot.
Chang compiled breaks of 67, 69, 58 and 132 on his way to victory. He now earns a place in the semi-finals of a ranking event for only the second time in his career.
Chang said: “It was really quite unexpected today. Before yesterday’s match I told myself to just relax and play, and that it would be enough if I could produce my own game. Today, I was also quite lucky because he just happened not to be in the best form.
“This is my best result in China so far. Previously, whenever I played in China, I would usually lose in the first or second round. I think this result is quite natural, because I feel I have put in a lot of work over the past two years.“
If you wonder what “the pen” got to do in the title of this piece … here goes
Ronnie O’Sullivan says a pen was reason for huge Mark Selby win
Ronnie O’Sullivan is into the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open after a fine win over Mark Selby and has credited the addition of a pen to his arsenal.
The Rocket has not been at his best for much of the campaign in Wuhan, but bounced back from losing the first two frames to beat the Jester from Leicester 5-3.
There were encouraging signs for O’Sullivan after a poor start, finishing the match with breaks of 80 and 129.
This came after some very harsh reviews of his own performances as he made his way to the quarter-finals as the seven-time world champion bemoaned serious technical issues in his game.
Apparently in an attempt to combat those problems, the 50-year-old has taken to holding a pen in his hand while in his seat and while wandering round Wuhan in between matches.
Speaking on his new RosUnplanned Instagram with wife Laila Rouass after beating Selby, O’Sullivan said: ‘I feel really good. The pen, my little comfort blanket when it was all going a bit pear-shaped.
At 2-0 down I was bang in trouble. Then the pen came into action, it’s all down to the pen. It’s nothing to do with me, it’s this little pen’
‘I had that pen in my hand and it makes me feel alright. So when I’m sitting in that chair I’m not thinking, “oh my arm’s this or that,” it puts you in half a decent frame of mind.’
O’Sullivan has spoken regularly about how uncomfortable he has felt with his game for three or four years, feeling that he changed his technique to his detriment.
Even far from his best he is capable of winning matches and he believes that if he can rediscover his old technique, or at least a different technique which feels better, then he can lift silverware again.
‘I don’t ever get involved in personalities when I’m playing the game, I’m always focused on how I’m hitting the ball,’ he told WST.
‘Am I playing well enough to play every shot that I need to play? And I haven’t been, so I’m worried whoever I play at the moment. It didn’t matter if it’s Mark Selby or number 128 in the world, I’m playing with zero confidence.
‘But I’m working hard on my game. I’m on the practise table a lot. I’m trying to figure out how to get out of this. I call it the disease, because it feels like the method that I took on, it’s ruined me really.
‘I’ve got no cue power, I’ve got no sense of direction, I don’t know where the balls are going. As a player you always have some anchors to hang on to. I used to have four or five. One wasn’t working, I’d try another one and then that would get me going.
But at the moment I just have nothing and I haven’t had for four years, so it’s just been a nightmare. But I’m going to give it a really good go to try and cure the disease, if you like.
‘It’s easier to call it a disease, I suppose, and if I can that would be great. But I think 18 months is a fair amount of time to try and unlearn it, and maybe try and find some flow.
‘Because if I play alright, I cue alright, I know I can still win tournaments. I don’t think the competition is that good and I don’t think I’ve got that bad. It’s just that I’m not cueing the ball well, so the balls are just not doing what I know they should be doing, or what I used to be capable of doing.’
In the evening session both matches were won by Chinese players, making Ronnie the only non-Chinese contestant in the semi-finals … has this happened before? I’m not sure.
China’s Zhao Xintong swept to a 5-1 win over Neil Robertson to ensure he will become his country’s second world number one, in front of a delighted home crowd at the Wuhan Open.
At the conclusion of this week’s event, Zhao will follow in the footsteps of the legendary Ding Junhui, who had two brief spells on top of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings between December 2014 and February 2015.
29-year-old Zhao achieved snooker immortality in 2025, by becoming China’s first ever World Champion. An 18-12 win over Mark Williams in the final saw Zhao claim glory at the Crucible Theatre. That laid the foundations for his ascent to the top of the rankings.
This evening’s meeting was a straight shootout for the world number one spot, with the winner guaranteed to reach snooker’s summit. Current world number one Judd Trump suffered a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Chang Bingyu this afternoon. That means the Englishman’s reign, which began following the 2024 Xi’an Grand Prix, is guaranteed to end following Saturday’s final.
At the beginning of this week there was a five-way battle for top spot, with Trump, Zhao, Robertson, Wu Yize and Mark Selby all in contention. As Zhao is the last man left standing in this event, he is now set to become snooker’s 13th world number one.
Zhao took the first two frames this evening, thanks to breaks of 106 and 91, before Robertson claimed the third to remain in touch at 2-1. A tight fourth frame saw Zhao crucially clear the colours to steal on the black and lead 3-1 at the mid-session.
When they returned, he powered over the line with breaks of 113 and 54 to secure victory. He now faces Xiao Guodong in the semi-finals, knowing that whatever happens he will end the event on top of the snooker world.
“Before the match, I had a rough idea about the situation. A lot of fans had mentioned it to me, and I had also seen some of the comments. They said that this match was a battle for the world number one spot. But to be honest, personally, I didn’t really think about it that much. However, when I went 2-0 up against Neil Robertson, I did feel a little bit of a wobble inside,” said six-time ranking event winner Zhao.
“At the moment, I probably haven’t really had the chance to fully take it in or savour it. I think after tomorrow, I’ll probably start to feel it more. Becoming world number one was definitely one of my dreams when I was growing up. Even now, after winning some ranking titles and becoming more settled mentally, I feel like being world number one isn’t necessarily my ultimate goal. But for a professional player, it’s certainly a very rare and special honour, so I’m extremely happy.“
Defending champion Xiao earned his place with a 5-3 defeat of three-time Crucible king Mark Williams.
Xiao is aiming to win the Wuhan Open for a third successive year, having beaten Si Jiahui 10-7 in the 2024 final and Gary Wilson 10-9 in the 2025 title match. That would make him only the fifth player to win a specific ranking title three years in a row, after Trump, Ray Reardon, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry.
The match this evening had looked set to go to a decider, but Williams spurned a blue with a chance to win and eventually left Xiao an opportunity with the black near the green pocket, which he deposited to get over the line.
Xiao said: “Wuhan has brought me so much happiness. I’ve won two ranking titles here, and now I’ve reached the semi-finals again. Of course, I’d like to win three in a row, but I’ll just take it one match at a time. I’ve done my job now, and whoever wins the title out of of us, everyone will be happy.
“Congratulations to Zhao Xintong on becoming world number one. This is a very good sign for Chinese snooker. Apart from Ding Junhui, we now have another player who can be world number one. Chinese snooker is getting stronger and stronger, and that gives all of us encouragement.“
So, currently, in snooker, we have a Chinese World Champion in Wu Yize, and a Chinese Number one in Zhao Xintong.
In this event, we have a Chinese defending Champion in Xiao Guodong who is still on course to defend his title as we have reached the last-4 stage and two other Chinese semi-finalists.
And yet … those guys have to live as expats in the UK for most of the year because the “UK centric” organisation of the sport. How is that right?
Ronnie has beaten Stephen Maguire by 5-2 today and here are the scores:
Despite the win, and the two centuries, Ronnie is not optimistic about the future and he made that clear in this interview with Phil Haigh:
Ronnie O’Sullivan reveals Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis retirement advice
Ronnie O’Sullivan can see himself retiring from snooker in 2028 after taking advice from fellow legends Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry.
The Rocket is into the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open this week, still winning matches at 50 years old, but increasingly frustrated with his own performances.
The seven-time world champion has beaten Ashley Carty, Yao Pengcheng and Stephen Maguire in Wuhan, but does not have high hopes of continuing that run when he meets Mark Selby in the last eight.
Asked if he could win the tournament this week, O’Sullivan told a post-match press conference: ‘No. Absolutely no chance. I was happy to win a match. When I won two matches I was over the moon. To win three, for me, was a miracle at the moment. I’ve probably gone as far as I can go.
‘If anybody plays well against me, they win, it doesn’t matter where they’re ranked. If they play poorly then I have a chance, but I don’t expect anyone from now to play poorly.
‘My game is now very, very poor. I’m not playing to a good enough level. My technique is so rubbish I don’t have a clue where the balls are going, it’s like hit and hope snooker. I’m delighted to have won three matches, I can’t believe it really.
I just hope for some improvement in the future. I’m playing more for the future, to hopefully find something.’
Having just beaten Maguire 5-2 with two centuries along the way, O’Sullivan was asked if he was just being modest, but said he is quite the opposite.
‘No, I’m definitely not modest,’ he said. ‘I’m just telling the truth. I have very, very bad technical issues. I don’t even know where the balls are going. I know they go in, but I don’t even know. I can’t explain it.’
O’Sullivan turns 51 in December and feels he has been struggling for form and comfort at the table for at least three years.
He says he has spoken to Hendry and Davis about the latter stages of their careers and does not want to do as they did.
‘I asked Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis, I spoke to them a couple of times and they said they probably played 10 years longer than they should have done,’ said the Rocket. ‘Because you always have this feeling, I want to play like I used to, because it’s a nice feeling.
‘I’m not going to waste 10 years. I’ve wasted three or four, in my opinion, three or four years where it’s been not great.
‘I’ll give myself another year-and-a-half, to see if I can find something. If I can’t I think it’s good to draw a line under it and move on to other things that are more suitable to me.’
Davis did keep playing for quite a while after his best, retiring in 2016, six years after his last Crucible appearance and 19 years after his last major title at the 1997 Masters.
Hendry was still a force when he retired in 2012, hanging up his cue immediately after a quarter-final defeat at the World Championship, having made a 147 in that event.
However, it was seven years after his last ranking title, which came at the 2005 Malta Cup.
O’Sullivan’s last ranking title came in January 2024 and he says he has little hope of regaining the form that could see him add to his tally of 41 triumphs.
‘I don’t really have much hope to regain the level I was at before,’ he said. ‘I know I can play that well but when you have really bad technical issues, if you can fix the obviously I’d be much more optimistic about the future, but I just don’t think they are able to be fixed, especially at this stage of my career.
‘Maybe 10-15 years ago I could have had the time to do it. I just don’t have the time to see it through, maybe. I give myself 18 months, until the end of the 2028 World Championship to see if I can get somewhere back to how I used to hit the ball.
‘If I can hit the ball half decent then I can still win tournaments. But as it stands it’s pretty ugly out there for me and maybe ugly for you guys to watch me play. That’s where I’m at with it, I’ve always been a bit of a realist.’
Some images from that match… mainly from Weibo. Not all great but hey …
Tomorrow’s meeting will be the first between the pair since 2024, when Selby whitewashed O’Sullivan 6-0 at the Players Championship. They’ve met in finals of all three of snooker’s Triple Crown events, as well as many other high profile contests, and seven-time World Champion O’Sullivan leads the overall head-to-head 17-12.
A subplot this week for Selby sees him in a four-way race, alongside Judd Trump, Zhao Xintong and Neil Robertson, for the world number one spot. He knows that he must win the event to move to the summit of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings, a position he held for four consecutive years between 2015 and 2019.
The Jester from Leicester looked in for a comfortable afternoon today, when he raced to a 4-1 advantage. However, the tenacious Pang reeled him in and forced a decider. Four-time Crucible king Selby showed his class and made a match-winning 63 to get over the line.
“I’ve played Ronnie so many times in big matches and big finals. When you play someone like Ronnie, you don’t know how long he is going to carry on playing. Every time you do face him you have to cherish it,” said 43-year-old Selby.
“As a young lad all you want to do is be World Champion and world number one. Fortunately I’ve done both. I’d love to try and get back there. It has been a while as Judd has been dominating. I’m in with a shout this week.“
O’Sullivan has been frustrated with his game all week, but so far has only lost five frames. He defeated former UK Champion Stephen Maguire 5-2 today, but after the match when asked about his chances of taking home the trophy he dismissed the notion.
“No. Absolutely no chance,” said 41-time ranking event winner O’Sullivan. “I was happy to win a match. When I won two matches I was over the moon. To win three, for me, was a miracle at the moment. I’ve probably gone as far as I can go.“
Current world number one Trump must win the title to have an opportunity to retain his status at the summit. He beat Si Jiahui 5-1 today and now faces Chang Bingyu, who was a 5-2 winner against Ali Carter.
2025 World Champion Zhao Xintong is in pole position for the world number one race, with Neil Robertson in second spot. They now face each other in a crucial showdown tomorrow. Zhao beat Barry Hawkins 5-3 to get to the quarters, while Robertson beat Liam Davies 5-3.
Mark Williams defeated Welsh compatriot Daniel Wells 5-2 to book his quarter-final slot. He now faces back-to-back defending champion Xiao Guodong, who won 5-3 against Chris Wakelin.
In other news…
Former snooker professional Graeme Dott has been convicted for child abuse. As a result, WST has issued this statement. It’s an awful story really, and I will come back to it after the current tournament has concluded. Meanwhile I will only say this: I’m horrified and terribly sorry for his (ex ?) wife and their children. I can’t imagine what they are going through.
Mark Allen has withdrawn from more tournaments. This brings memories from the time, some ten years ago, when he also withdrew from a whole range of tournaments, sometimes even when already being at the airport with Terry Griffiths, ready to travel but finding himself unable to board the plane. Such was the state and severity of his depression and anxiety. I do hope that he’s not suffering from a relapse …
Wuhan Open Day Three: Robertson Remains In World Number One Hunt
Australia’s Neil Robertson kept his hopes of returning to the world number one spot alive with a 5-3 defeat of Iran’s Hossein Vafaei to make the last 16 of the Wuhan Open.
The Thunder from Down Under’s last stint at the summit of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings ended in 2015. Fast forward 11 years and he is now embroiled in a four-way fight with Zhao Xintong, Mark Selby and Judd Trump to end this week as world number one.
Trump currently occupies top spot, but alongside Selby he must win the event to remain in contention. This is due to Trump’s points for winning the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters dropping off at the tournament’s conclusion. Robertson knows he must better Zhao’s performance in this week’s event to stand a chance.
A 41-minute opener this afternoon went the way of Vafaei, before 2010 World Champion Robertson restored parity and then claimed the third with a double on the final black to lead 2-1. Vafaei showed his resolve, though, and took the fourth to head into the mid-session all square at 2-2.
When play resumed, Robertson pulled out to a 4-2 lead. Vafaei pegged one back, but it was the Melbourne cueman who got over the line to book a meeting with Welsh youngster Liam Davies.
“I don’t think we’ve been in this position before when there is a run of a couple of events with four or five players in the hunt (for world number one). That is really exciting,” said 44-year-old Robertson.
“It is really meaningful the first time that you do it. I was World Champion and world number one at the same time and that was a great feeling. It would be pretty special if I could get back there. It will be up and down, you might see three or four players jockey that position this season. It is good for the fans.“
2025 World Champion Zhao continued his pursuit of top spot with a 5-2 win over Jak Jones, which ended with a century run of 121. He now faces a tough test against Barry Hawkins.
Four-time Crucible king Selby was a 5-2 winner against China’s He Guoqiang. Next up for the Englishman is Pang Junxu, who beat Shaun Murphy 5-3.
Selby spent four consecutive years as world number one between 2015 and 2019 and would dearly love a return.
“The world number one spot gives me another goal to work to apart from just the Triple Crown events. It keeps me practising and hungry to get back there. There is no better feeling than being called out as world number one. I’ve got a chance, but if I don’t then I’ve managed to achieve what I’ve set out to do when I was a young lad just turning professional.“
Seven-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan’s despair with his form continued, but he did score a straightforward 5-1 win over Yao Pengcheng.
Next up is a mouth-watering showdown with Stephen Maguire. The Scot ended the run of Artemijs Zizins, who beat World Champion Wu Yize yesterday, prevailing 5-4 from 4-1 down.
O’Sullivan said: “I just miss playing well. I don’t care whether it is when I’m practising or when I’m on the match table. I miss hitting the ball well. I’ve always said it. You can look back on my interviews. Since I was 17, I’ve always just wanted to hit it well. I’ll tell you if I have and if I’ve not then I’m sad I haven’t. Before I might have gone one or two months without doing it, but to go four years without hitting the ball well is far too long for any human to take, hitting poor shot after poor shot.”
That report is exhaustive enough, I have nothing much to add … only this:
It is really sad to see/hear Ronnie so unhappy but he’s a perfectionist, and he has always been a perfectionist. That perfectionism is most certainly the main drive that got him so much success as a professional but it has also been a curse, preventing him to fully enjoy that success. 😢
Here are the scores for Ronnie’s match:
As you can see, he made a break over 50 in four out of five frames he won. Most players would be over the moon … he’s not, he’s unhappy because the artist in him wants it to be beautiful, not just efficient.
Anyway, here, some images of that match, as shared on weibo
Wuhan Open Day Two: Zizins Conquers World Champion Wu
Latvia’s first snooker professional Artimijs Zizins scored the biggest win of his life so far, defeating World Champion Wu Yize 5-4 in front of a packed crowd at the Wuhan Open.
Zizins turned pro in 2024, when he successfully ran the Q School gauntlet at the first time of asking. The 20-year-old reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time in his career a few months ago at the World Open. He will now face Stephen Maguire to reach the same stage here in Wuhan.
A dramatic encounter this afternoon swung back and forth. Zizins made a brilliant start, crafting breaks of 58, 85 and 85 to lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval.
When play resumed, a three-frame burst from home hero Wu, which included breaks of 129 and 87, moved him one frame from victory at 4-3. However, Zizins showed his steel with 80 to force a decider.
A thrilling finale saw both players spurn opportunities to get over the line. Ultimately Wu failed to deposit the black whilst seeking position on the final yellow. Zizins cleared to the pink to secure a famous win.
An elated Zizins said: “There are no words for how I feel. I began on the World Snooker Tour two years ago, now I am playing the World Champion on table one in a full arena and winning. It felt unbelievable. I’m just beginning my journey and I was nervous. Hopefully I can experience this more and get better.“
2025 World Champion Zhao Xintong was in action on the other table in what was a bumper afternoon session of action, with over 3,000 fans watching on. He enjoyed contrasting fortunes to compatriot Wu, thrashing Gao Yang 5-0 to progress.
Zhao knows that if he can equal or better Neil Robertson’s performance this week, then he will put himself in a strong position to end the event as world number one. Robertson kept his own hopes alive with a 5-1 defeat of Ben Mertens.
For Zhao, breaks of 107, 118, 75, 82 and 67 helped him to victory this afternoon and set up a meeting with former Crucible finalist Jak Jones in the next round. Though he admits that is a lifelong target, he’s currently looking at things with a bigger perspective.
Zhao said: “When I was very young, becoming world number one was probably my biggest dream. But now that I’m at this stage of my career, I think it’s better to just let things happen naturally. If you play well and something is meant to be yours, then it will be yours.“
Current world number one Judd Trump knows he must win the title to stand a chance of remaining at the summit of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings. He scored a 5-0 whitewash win over Yuan Sijun this evening and now plays either Si Jiahui or Dylan Emery.
Seven-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan earned a hard-fought 5-2 win over Ashley Carty, but says he’s been missing producing his top form in recent times.
The Rocket recently admitted that the 2028 World Championship may be his last and has stated that his main remaining ambition is to capture a record-breaking eighth Crucible crown. However, defeats to Kyren Wilson at the Shanghai Masters and Noppon Saengkham at the China Open have meant both of his appearances this season have ended at the second hurdle.
The first two frames this morning were shared, before a break of 59 saw O’Sullivan steal the third on the black. He then dominated the fourth to lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval.
Carty pulled one back after play resumed, but he couldn’t build any momentum and 50-year-old O’Sullivan claimed the next two on the bounce to emerge a 5-2 victor and book a meeting with China’s Yao Pengcheng.
O’Sullivan said: “My performance was pretty bad really. You have to call it out. I’m not going to lie. I’m not going to try to delude myself and say there was some good stuff. It has been pretty bad for a long time, so I expect to play pretty bad every time I go out there. I know I don’t have anything to prove and that is what everyone keeps telling me. However, for my own selfish reasons I miss playing well and dominating the table, beating anyone who is in front of me. I miss that feeling, but there is nothing I can do about it.“
Regarding Ronnie’s match … here are the scores :
Whaterver Ronnie says, there was some good stuff in there, but, it can be denied, there were some really unexpected mistakes as well. Ronnie always sets very high standards for himself and, right now, he is is not able to play at the level he wants to play at. He looked extremely frustrated at times during this match, but he didn’t allow his frustration to “overpower” him and he tried his best from start to finish. That alone is a huge positive, and he deserves credit for it … but himself won’t see it that way of course, certainly not right after the match anyway.
Here are some images from that match, most shared on weibo.
Next for Ronnie is Yao Pencheng who whitewashed Jack Lisowski… with theese scores …
Well THAT looks seriously scary and if the guy can sustain that level … he should win a tournament soon.
Having written that … I haven’t seen the match, it wasn’t shown on HBO Max, and Jack, of course, plays a very open game. Safety is not his main strength and that’s an understatement 😎 …
All the same, it means that, in that form, Yao punishes most, if not all, of his opponents’ mistakes and scores heavily when in. That’s a worrying prospect for whoever has to face him.
And last but not least, as a mainland European snooker fan, I’m over the moon for Artimijs Zizins 🥰1
And I do like Wu Yize very much, I really do but … ↩︎
Can Ronnie O’Sullivan end title drought at Wuhan Open as Stephen Hendry and Neil Robertson highlight key Rocket asset.
Ronnie O’Sullivan won the last of his record 41 ranking titles in January 2024 when he claimed the World Grand Prix. The snooker GOAT has appeared in three major finals since then, but has yet to end his 31-month trophy drought despite putting in the hours in practice ahead of the Wuhan Open.
O’Sullivan described himself as “a very poor snooker player at the moment” after losing to 6-4 to world No. 27 Noppon Saengkham in the second round of the China Open in Taiyuan last week.
Upon reflection, it was a defeat that was probably not that bad, with the inspired Thai potter also brilliantly seeing off Judd Trump (6-3), Shaun Murphy (6-4) and Zhou Yuelong (6-5) before losing the final 10-6 to Mark Selby.
O’Sullivan returns to the table when he opens his Wuhan Open campaign against Ashley Carty on Monday morning at 02:30 am…
The Essex player has come up short three times in finals, losing at the 2024 Tour Championship (10-5) to Mark Williams, last year’s Saudi Arabia Masters against Neil Robertson (10-9) and the World Open (10-7) to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in March.
O’Sullivan is not faltering through lack of preparation, with world No. 2 Robertson praising the work ethic of O’Sullivan during his run to the quarter-finals of the China Open.
“I was watching Ronnie O’Sullivan on the practice table the other day, he was there for three-and-a-half hours,” said the Australian.
“I was on the other table and I felt that if he is still putting the hours in at the age of 50, then I should be too.
“I feel I have done everything right for this trip, and it’s nice to get the results.“
….
Fellow seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry feels it is only a matter of time before O’Sullivan comes good in a blue-chip event providing he can minimise the misses.
“We know at his best he can produce unbelievable performances and if he can string them together, I think he will win a tournament.
“Which is not the greatest of predictions. He seems to be working his n*** off. He is pounding the practice table as soon as he is out of the tournament.
“All of a sudden he misses something you can’t believe out of nowhere, like John Higgins and Mark Williams, and it’s those unforced errors on easy shots which cost him.
“The concentration has to weaken a bit, the ability to keep that massive focus through a whole match or tournament, that has to waver as you get older.
“It is just natural. These easy misses and mistakes get punished more than they used to, Ronnie has always been quick to blame himself when he is not playing well.“
After Wuhan, the snooker roadshow moves back to the UK, with the British Open in Cheltenham and English Open in Brentwood.
I wish I had their confidence in such prediction … but, no, right now I can’t see it. That said, those two guys are/were professional snooker players and are multiple ranking event winners and former World Champions. They are probably better judges than me … hopefully they, and Ronnie, prove me wrong.
So far this season, Ronnie has played in two events, losing in round two both times, and on both occasions the player who beat him went on to reach the final. They were clearly playing very well. On both occasions, I feel that Ronnie showed some very good stuff in patches and could have won those matches, but was guilty of the odd mistakes that cost him dear. And it wasn’t even the hardest balls he missed either, and that kind of “silly” errors are typically caused by lapses in concentration. I’m not sure what the answer is if that is indeed the main issue. Time waits for no one …
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has today announced the 2026/27 WPBSA Q Tour Europe series featuring seven tournaments to be held across the continent.
The WPBSA Q Tour Global is an established series of events which provides an elite pathway for snooker players around the world to earn their place on the World Snooker Tour.
Last season saw former Shoot Out semi-finalist Jamie Clarke top the Q Tour Europe rankings, with England’s Craig Steadman, Ashley Hugill and Ashley Carty each qualifying from the overall Q Tour Global Playoffs in Spain.
WPBSA Q Tour Europe
This season’s Q Tour Europe will once again comprise seven events, with four to be held in mainland Europe.
Following last season’s revamped format, the series will once again feature a rolling points-based ranking system with best-of-seven frame matches.
At each event, 64 players will be seeded through to the last 128 stage based on the latest seedings cut-off point. Each tournament will be played under a flat draw, with the remaining players drawn at random.
A total prize fund of £30,000 will be on offer at each of the seven events throughout the campaign.
As in previous seasons, the top ranked player at the end of the campaign will earn a place on the World Snooker Tour. The next 16-ranked players (to include each event champion) will qualify for the season-end Q Tour Global Play-Offs.
The Dates
The provisional dates for this season’s Q Tour Europe are listed below. Click on the event to enter now via WPBSA SnookerScores.
We aim to accommodate all players who wish to enter; however, we do reserve the right to limit entries for each qualifier or to extend events subject to the number of tables available at the club and time available.
Q Tour Global
WPBSA Q Tour Global will continue to incorporate regional Q Tour series’ staged around the world as part of the continued international expansion of Q Tour.
The Q Tour Global will once again continue to include series in the Middle East, Americas and Asia-Pacific regions, alongside the CBSA China Tour.
As part of the WPBSA’s commitment to the international growth of our sport, the leading players from these regional Q Tour events will qualify to compete at the Q Tour Global Play-Offs, alongside players from Q Tour Europe.
Players competing in Q Tour events outside of Europe, must be resident for a minimum six months to be eligible to play in these events.
There is progress … four out of seven of those Q-Tour events are played outside the UK. However, the three remaining events are all played in England… nothing in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Ok, they are all played in excellent clubs that will offer first class conditions, which, of course, is very important. And, also, for players from outside the UK, England is probably the “easiest” UK area to reach from outside the UK, be it by plane, boat or train (Eurostar).
I have been at all of these venues in the past, except for the one in Vienna. They are all very good venues, the conditions should be excellent and the “hospitality” should be great too.
Q Tour Europe 2026/27 – Event 1 | Tournament Information
The draw and schedule for the first event of the 2026/27 WPBSA Q Tour Europe series is now available with 143 players competing at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England on 27-30 August 2026.
A total of 25 nations will be represented in the opening event which features an incredible entry number of 143 – higher than any Q Tour event during the 2025/26 season.
The top ranked player at the end of the campaign will earn a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card, while further places will be available at the Q Tour Global Play-Offs where an additional three tour cards will be on offer.
143 players are in the draw … Drat! they missed the 147 target 😇…
Unless I’m mistaken there is only one woman in the draw… Corina Maracine. She’s a mystery to me that woman. She enters those events every year, for years now and it’s not cheap. Unless my memory fails me, she has never won a match in any of those comps. Maybe she can afford it and she just loves to be at those events, to part of it…
The Wuhan Open in China runs from August 23-29. All matches up to and including the quarter-finals are best of nine frames, the semi-finals are best of 11 frames and the final is best of 19 frames. All times BST.
Sunday 23 August
Round 1 (Held Over)
02:30 Hammad Miah v Wildcard #1 Gao Yang v Wildcard #2 Ben Mertens v Wildcard #3 Jiang Jun v Wildcard #4
Round 2 (Held Over)
07:00 Chris Wakelin v Jordan Brown Xiao Guodong v Wang Xinbo Mark Williams v Robbie Williams
12:30 John Higgins v Liu Hongyu Ding Junhui v Liam Davies Judd Trump v Florian Nuessle
Monday 24 August
02:30 Si Jiahui v Jiang / wildcard Neil Robertson v Mertens / wildcard Barry Hawkins v Miah / wildcard Ronnie O’Sullivan v Ashley Carty
07:00 Mark Selby v Fan Zhengyi Shaun Murphy v Alfie Burden Wu Yize v Artemijs Zizins Zhao Xintong v Gao / wildcard
