Ronnie and Ding are at one of the most important archeological sites in China, and in the World, the Longmen Grottos in Luoyang, to do a couple of exhibitions. The first took place yesterday and Ronnie won the match by 5-2. He had a 134 in frame 5.

Kalacs put this video on YouTube:

It shows the players arriving in Luoyang and visiting the site as well as the full match. Thank you Kalaks.

There were also some pictures shared on various social media, mainly Twitter and Weibo.

It was also announced yet another exhibition, this time with Si Jiahui

Before embarking for China, Ronnie had spoken to Phil Haigh about his schedule and intentions:

Ronnie O’Sullivan embarks on globe-trotting exhibition tour after Crucible disappointment

Ronnie O’Sullivan is set for a busy few weeks travelling the world on the exhibition circuit after a disappointing end to his season at the World Snooker Championship.

The Rocket had a fabulous campaign, winning five titles including the Masters and UK Championship, but suffered a shock quarter-final defeat to Stuart Bingham at the Crucible in his final match of the season.

He is not taking much time off, though, heading to China where he will be playing a number of exhibitions, starting with challenge matches against Ding Junhui in Luoyang.

He then goes to Chengdu, Kunshan and Shanghai with the likes of Judd Trump, John Higgins, Jack Lisowski and Si Jiahui involved across the three events.

The Rocket then lands in Finland, playing in Tampere from 3-5 June, before heading to Bulgaria where he plays John Higgins in Plovdiv on 7 June and in Sofia then following day.

After defeat to Bingham in Sheffield, O’Sullivan was already looking forward to his busy time around the globe, before he gets the new season underway at the Shanghai Masters in July.

‘I quite enjoyed it, quite enjoyed playing out there, didn’t get the result but that’s just sport, that’s life, you can’t win them all,’ he said after World Championship defeat on 1 May.

‘I’m just looking forward to going to China in 10 days and playing Ding in some challenge matches. I’m enjoying the game.

‘I’ll have 10-12 days off now before I go to China. I’ll be away for two-and-a-half, three weeks doing my work stuff out there, so I’m really looking forward to that. Then off to Finland for three nights, then Bulgaria, so a busy three or four weeks playing, which is great.

‘Then I’ll take three weeks off, then start getting my cue out again because I’m going to Shanghai for the Shanghai Masters. I’m looking forward to playing Ding in China, that will be fun.’

Snooker exhibitions in China can be wildly popular events, as shown by Judd Trump in a recent appearances in Guangzhou.

The former world champion attracted a lot of attention, appearing alongside Thai stars Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Noppon Saengkham and Mink Nutcharut.

The 2024/25 World Snooker Tour season gets underway on 10 June with the start of the Championship League, running all the way until 3 July.

It sounds like O’Sullivan will begin his campaign at the Shanghai Masters, which begins on 15 July and the Rocket will look to win the event for a sixth time and the fifth on the spin.

The main news yesterday was about the untimely passing of Dene O’Kane, the first ever snooker professional from New Zeland. WPBSA posted a tribute to Dene and many current and former professionals expressed their sorrow at the news and their sympathy for Dene’s family. I can’t really add anything meaningful. I only met Dene briefly at the 2019 World Seniors Snooker Championship and never got to really know him.

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